1. How much carbon dioxide can a tree remove from the atmosphere? Over the course of a year, a young tree can remove approximately 6 kilograms/13 pounds of atmospheric carbon dioxide. By the time that tree is ten years old, the amount of carbon dioxide it can absorb jumps to 22 kilograms/48 pounds. Within 50 years, a mature tree has removed almost one ton of carbon dioxide.

How do trees help cool the atmosphere? Trees cool the atmosphere and ground around them through transpiration, the process through which plants absorb water through their roots and release water vapor through the pores of their leaves. On a sunny day, a mature tree can transpire up to 100 liters of water and in the process convert 70 kilowatt-hours of solar energy into latent heat held in water vapor. Without tree cover, the soil  absorbs heat instead. This contributes to a rise in temperature not only of the ground, but also the surrounding atmosphere1. What is a Food Forest? A food forest is an edible forest garden. A combination of tall trees, small trees, shrubs, herbs, ground covers, and some annual crops, it’s designed so that each plant receives sufficient sun exposure and requires minimal care as it enriches itself with organic matter. Far from a new idea, this is a time-tested system of farming found all over the world, perhaps most famously in the Amazon rainforest.