Do you have trees where you live? Maybe you live close to public parks with lots of trees. Or maybe you live in a neighborhood where there are trees along the walkways. You might even live in a house with trees in your backyard.

Now, imagine there were no trees anywhere in your community. It would get extremely hot in the summer, because there are no trees to provide shade. Tree cover, also called tree canopy, is extremely important for helping neighborhoods stay cool, because trees block the sun’s harsh rays and prevent man made building materials like brick and concrete from absorbing and trapping heat.

Having lots of trees in your neighborhood is good for your health. Trees produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) and other pollutants. This means that toxins that are released into the environment from cars, trucks, and other human activities are filtered by the trees. When there are few or no trees, people tend to be sicker. When millions of trees died due to the emerald ash borer beetle, the death rates of people living in nearby counties went up.

Trees also make you feel good! There is lots of research suggesting that being around trees either in a forest or green space helps improve your mood and reduces stress.

So, a neighborhood with no trees would be pretty unpleasant, and if there were no trees anywhere in the world, it would be pretty terrible. But we can make sure that there are plenty of trees both in forests and in the communities where we live. We can plant trees! Here are some of the reasons why we should plant as many trees as we can.

Trees improve the water supply.

U.S. forests provide fresh water to millions of Americans. Trees in forests prevent rainwater from eroding soil and evaporating quickly because raindrops get filtered down through the leaves slowly, helping the soil absorb it. When water is absorbed into the soil, groundwater is replenished. The groundwater feeds waterways like rivers and streams, and supplies communities with water.

Trees also filter pollutants from water by absorbing rainwater, removing microbes and particles, and gradually releasing it to waterways. Trees are the most important resource we have for improving and maintaining water quality.

New trees help forests improve their health.

Sometimes, fires, floods, and diseases destroy big portions of forests because they were weakened from deforestation or the introduction of invasive plants and insects. When native trees (trees that grew in the region before humans arrived) are reintroduced into forests after a manmade or natural disaster, it helps those forests become stronger and less vulnerable to future problems like disease and wildfire.

Trees help protect the habitat for diverse wildlife.

When plants and animals become threatened or extinct due to their habitat disappearing, it causes a chain reaction that often results in global environmental consequences. The world’s forests are home to a tremendous number of animal and plant species – more than we can even count! These animals and plants are critical parts of the global ecosystem, and help keep the spheres (biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere) working in a healthy and productive way.

Trees improve air quality.

As mentioned above, trees filter out pollutants through photosynthesis. The pollutants that trees remove can damage our health. The pollutants are replaced with oxygen, making trees the most effective air filters in the world!