By Jude Njoku

Gone are the days when people  fell trees with reckless abandon. The message being preached by environmentalists especially in these days of global warming is “plant a tree and save the environment from the adverse impacts of climate change”.

Trees offer shade in the summer and act as windbreaker during cooler seasons.  This inadvertently reduces the greenhouse effects by eliminating, or at least minimizing, the need for air conditioners and heaters; respectively reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned as energy.

In fact, environment experts posit that one mature tree can provide the equivalent of five 10,000 BTU air conditioners running 20 hours a day. Three shade trees strategically planted around a house can reduce home air_conditioning bills by about 30 percent in hot, dry cities. Studies show that a single tree can soak up as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide in a year and produce enough oxygen to sustain two human beings.

According to a report in http://www.gogreen_today.com, trees are also seen as excellent cleansers.  “They remove other pollutants through the stomates in the leaf surface.  This is particularly good in urban areas, so trees should be abundant in city parks, as well they should riddle the landscaping of suburbia”.

An environmentalist, Mr Ako Amadi posits that trees should be planted not only for aesthetic reasons but as a means of combating the adverse effects of climate change. He decried the cosmetic approach most state governments have adopted when it comes to tree planting.

In a previous interview with Vanguard homes & Property, the Principal of Trinity College Ofada in Ogun state, Mrs Philips explained why the school makes tree planting part of its beatification programme.”Trees are good around; they break wind because in a large place like this, usually in the past, with the first and second rain we have roofs of houses blown off.

If one happens to be around at such times, he would think that a war had broken up in this area. Even in town, at times you’ll be going and the roof of a building may be in the middle of the road. We had some of our buildings affected too but with the trees all over, that has reduced the effect of the winds and the storms. Trees are always good around anyway, they always provide shade and the children and  parents can always come around and park under the shade of the trees during Open Days