This article was written by Doug Johnson
Are you suffering from global warming anxiety? Do you worry about your CO2 emissions while driving to the lake cabin or traveling by plane to Disney World. You can relieve that anxiety by planting trees.
Planting trees, maintaining forests and other natural ecosystems is the most effective way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Forests are an important part of the global carbon cycle because trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Trees essentially filter CO2 from the air by storing carbon and releasing oxygen back into the air. An acre of trees can remove roughly the same amount of CO2 as two cars produce. Climate scientists estimate we will have to plant trillions of trees to mitigate the effects of global warming. If you do not have land or time to plant trees then you can still participate in mitigating global warming by donating to the St. Olaf Tree Fund.
St. Olaf Lutheran Church has established a Tree Fund to allow you to easily participate in the mitigation of global warming. Each dollar donated will result in one tree seedling being planted in a Minnesota forest. If you want to make a donation in honor of somebody, St. Olaf will maintain an honorary list.
You can donate by check to St. Olaf Lutheran Church, 2901 Emerson Ave. N. Mpls, MN 55412, indicate Tree Fund. Credit card or PayPal at stolaflutheran.org. Indicate in note box that donation is for the Tree Fund or donate to the Minnesota DNR’s Future Forest Fund futureforest.dnr@state.mn.us .
The St. Olaf Climate Change Action Group meets at the church on the second Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. Please join us.