Many Less Trees Across the Earth Than in the Past

It is easy to believe the number of trees has diminished tremendously across the planet in recent decades. This is true even for the continental United States. In the Mountain Time Zone, despite growing numbers of trees in sprawling metropolitan areas, the numbers of trees have continued to decline with drought, weather, pine beetles, and fire taking large numbers of trees in the countryside and what were once forests in many places. Logging also still takes a fair number of trees, but there may have been a small decrease in this MTZ region in recent years, unlike the decimating effects logging is having on other continents and in the temperature forests of Western Canada, the Pacific Northwest of the continental US, and Alaska. It is difficult to imagine a program that may work nationally, let alone internationally, to address this serious growing crisis that will also add to the massive looming problem of global warming and climate change.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/environment/2008-02-02-trees_N.htm?csp=34

http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/campaigns/historic/WILD/reports/Vol15No06

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