We need 8 trillion trees, here's 8 billion

Jon Chambers (8billiontrees.com); CC Liu, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Trees may be our only hope... Let me tell you why in just 90 seconds

Jon Chambers, founder of 8 Billion Trees

Hi, I'm Jon Chambers. (That’s me in the picture on the left). That's only important because we likely share one very big thing in common: a desperation to act and save our planet from an accelerating climate crisis.

What I'm about to tell you completely changed my mind on climate change and habitat destruction FOREVER.

It caused me to use every dollar in my name, move thousands of miles, and give up everything. Half a century ago, I would never have done that. Everything has changed now.

It’s why I founded 8 Billion Trees, and it’s why we're here in this moment. It’s why I've given up everything (which I will explain in just a moment) to erase two tons of your or my neighbor's carbon footprint, absolutely free.

Yes, using money out of my own pocket and my own hands and trees I grew in a nursery, I will erase someone else's carbon footprint for FREE.

What's the “why”? Why our world now is drastically different than even the one our parent’s (and grandparents) grew up in, regardless of our age… And what the Number 1 scientifically-proven correlation to the destruction of the planet is? Trees.

• [EDITORS' NOTE: How many trees do we need? There are 7 to 8 billion people. Each needs 400 trees to balance or sequester carbon produced on average. 8,000,000,000 x 400 = 3,200,000,000. Or how many trees were there on the planet before we destroyed jungles, forests, stands, and wildernesses? (8 trillion)? And how many are there now? In the meantime, maybe we should grow fields of hemp and put the minerals and bacteria plankton feed on back in the ocean (removed by dam building) so that coral reefs come back, as Dr. Joel Wallach discovered was the cause of coral loss.]

Who wants change? Who wants to change?

There's a deadly "3-pronged" crisis killing our planet. You may be reading because of the horrific deforestation crisis around the world, how it is rapidly accelerating, already 50% worse than it was last year.

Over half the planet's wildlife has been wiped out through habitat destruction. Our own carbon footprint is two massive tons every month.

To have ANY hope of solving any of these problems, we have to solve them all. Humans have wiped out 60% of animals since 1970 (Zoological Society of London). That’s right. That's us. Humans are just 0.01% of all life but have destroyed 6 out of every 10 animals and many plants species. What happened?

Who's this beautiful little guy? (Margaret Mead)

It didn’t just spring out of nowhere… Like I promised, everything happens for a reason. Every cause has an effect. Trees. They are vanishing from the earth at an unprecedented rate.

And it’s not affecting just animals like the orangutan fighting for her life in the video. It’s permanently affecting humans.

The reason is simple. Forests are home to 80% of the world’s biodiversity. Eighty percent of every living animal, plant, and organism directly depends on trees. When the forests go, so do the animals, plants, and everything else.

In the time it takes to read this sentence, 4,612 trees have been destroyed (4 seconds). Gone.

Loggers and cattle ranchers clear-cut trees leaving topsoil exposed to rain erosion, flooding.

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But it would be wrong to say this and not provide the four hard facts, based on studies from experts in virtually every field... They show “cross-domain” significance.

This is a scientific way of explaining that these four cross-domain facts show what is happening in virtually every corner of the planet, even areas not included in the four facts.

1. At least 50 million acres of rainforest are lost every year, totaling an area the size of England, Wales, and Scotland combined.
2. Only 10% of Original Forests Remain in Madagascar.
3. 98% of Ethiopia’s forest have been destroyed in the last 50 years.
4. The United States has less than 4% of its forests left.

We love our kids like we love ourselves.

Just 50 years ago I never would have left everything behind. One single day put everything into perspective and show just how harmful our modern lives have become…

This is painfully real. It will happen in our lifetime. The real cause of the destruction is shockingly simple. What I am about to say is painful… Every single second, an entire football field of forest is erased. And because trees are directly tied to carbon sequestration, when the trees go, a massive carbon footprint takes their place.

Anthropologist Margaret Mead and friends

It can be hard to understand how FAST this really is without a visual in front of you. So here's one of a devastated area our team found in the Amazon that is exactly 1.86 acres (the size of a football field).

Because of all of this, the average person in today’s modern world—in other words, every single person we know—is directly responsible for the destruction of over 400 trees.

Okay now for the “good” news… There is something AMAZING about this otherwise horrific situation. By replacing the trees, we swap the life-giving carbon for biodiversity, green growth, rich oxygen, habitats, and more! More

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, organized citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – American anthropologist Margaret Mead