Capturing the beauty of Earth’s 3.04 trillion trees

BY ANDREW FREEDMAN From Mashable

The Earth has a staggering variety of trees, many of which are older than any human currently alive today.

A new study published in the journal Nature, found that there are a staggering 3 trillion trees growing around the world.

This includes the mighty Redwoods, giant Sequoias and elderly Bristlecone Pines. It also includes more common species like Maple trees and Oaks, and Birch trees and Pine. It encompasses, too, the many species yet to be discovered that are hidden in the vast rainforests of the world, soaking up moisture, and producing oxygen for us all to breathe.

The greatest concentration of trees, unsurprisingly, are in the planet’s vast tropical rainforests. Yet this is also where forest loss rates are the highest.

Human activities threaten many trees through logging, development and climate change.

While the Earth has a tremendous abundance of foliage, it now has trillions less than there used to be, the Nature study found.

The study’s estimate of 3.04 trillion trees on Earth was well above earlier estimates, though, which were about 400 billion.

IMAGES:
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Tourist admiring the Giant Sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park, in California.
IMAGE: NEALE CLARK/ROBERT HARDING/CORBIS
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A view from above of an aspen tree in bright autumn foliage, among dark pine trees.
IMAGE: MINT IMAGES/CORBIS
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White birch trees in Japan’s Nagano prefecture.
IMAGE: AFLO/CORBIS
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A twisted very old Bristlecone Pine in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Park in Bishop, California.
IMAGE: NEALE CLARK/ROBERT HARDING/CORBIS
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Redwood Trees and ferns in the Whakarewarewa Forest in New Zealand.
IMAGE: RADIUS IMAGES/CORBIS
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Willow Creek at Minesing Swamps in Ontario, Canada in 2009.
IMAGE: JANUSZ WROBEL/ALL CANADA PHOTOS/CORBIS
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A boy hugging a tree trunk in Redwoods National Park in California.
IMAGE: JULIA KUSKIN/CORBIS
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A faint layer of fog hovers above the swampy ground surrounding a grove of trees in Florida’s Everglades.
IMAGE: ED DARACK/SCIENCE FACTION/CORBIS
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Arbol del Tule, a Mexican bald cypress in Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico.
IMAGE: D. CROSSLAND/CORBIS
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Rainbow Eucalyptus trees along the road to Hana in Maui.
IMAGE: QUINCY DIEN/DESIGN PICS/CORBIS
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A forest in Nagano prefecture.
IMAGE: SHOSEI/CORBIS
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A cloud forest on the island of Reunion.
IMAGE: KARSTEN WROBEL/IMAGEBROKER/CORBIS
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A foggy forest in central South Korea.
IMAGE: TOPIC PHOTO AGENCY/CORBIS
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Avenue of the Baobabs in Morondava, Madagascar
IMAGE: GUNTER LENZ/IMAGEBROKER/CORBIS
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Downy birch trees in Langeoog, Germany, Europe
IMAGE: ERHARD NERGER/IMAGEBROKER/CORBIS
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Garajonay National Park in Spain’s Canary Island
IMAGE: MARTIN SIEPMANN/WESTEND61/CORBIS
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A palm grove on the Zapata Peninsula in Cuba.
IMAGE: GREG STOTT/MASTERFILE/CORBIS
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A pine forest in Toolara State Forest in Queensland, Australia
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Maple trees in autumn in Momijidani Park ob Miyajima Island, Western Honshu, Japan.

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