Climate Change is Real - Wake up! Do something

During the heat dome of June 2021, Oregon’s temperature’s broke record highs by a significant margin. Prior to that, we’ve experienced terrible wildfires, smoke, and destruction from those events. These events are humbling. An Ice storm in 2021 caused widespread damage to urban canopies. “Second Wave” damage occurs when trees are subsequently removed when pruning would do just fine. Developers and arborists make money taking down healthy trees to make room for more houses. I don’t oppose tree removals, not at all. There can be plenty of good reasons to take out trees. The American West is facing a megadrought, with its full effects yet to be experienced. All this adds up to stress for humans who must further adapt to their environment. The poor will be most adversely affected over the coming decades. I strongly recommend to any thinking, caring, or concerned individual that they become informed, and immediately advocate for better policies from their elected officials and representatives! Please be a part of the solution, not the problem. Climate disruption is here, and with it will come more extreme weather, refugees, war, invasive plant and insect specifies, and plant diseases that can target weakened trees. It is not your tree’s job to “perform” for you. Trees are alive, and it is our privilege to be around them. As acclaimed arborist Scott Baker said “If trees could move, we would never see them” (because they would run away from us). Planting trees alone is not nearly enough. Humanity needs to collaborate to reduce CO2 emissions and now. There is hope, but we need action. In today’s polarized politics, We need to reach those who are choosing to not listen. For this, I recommend a book called Saving Us A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, by Katherine Hayhoe. Another read I recommend is The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson - not a light read, but perhaps a good exercise in opening our eyes and thinking ahead. Ignorance is not a virtue, knowledge is not a sin. Ignorance and arrogance often work in tandem. Please do what you can to make this world better for the future generations, and for ecology. Thank you