Trees are known for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus benefiting the climate. New research shows that they offer one more benefit. Microbes living in tree bark or in the wood itself remove atmospheric methane – a powerful greenhouse gas – on a scale equal to or above that of soil. This makes trees 10% more beneficial for climate overall than previously thought. The methane absorption was strongest in tropical forests, probably because microbes thrive in the warm, wet conditions found there.

Methane is responsible for around 30% of global warming, and emissions are currently rising fast, driven largely by human-related activities.

Until now, soil had been thought of as earth’s only terrestrial sink for methane, as soils are full of bacteria that absorb the gas and break it down for use as energy. But trees may be as important or more so. The study is the first to quantify the volume of atmospheric methane that, on a global scale, trees can remove – 24.6 to 49.9 million tonnes annually.

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Historians tell us that an explosion of creativity occurs the moment the world starts complaining that there is nothing left to invent, or that all questions have long since been answered and that the search for solutions to complex problems has come to an end. This explosion is fate’s way of reminding us that there is always something just over the knowledge curve.

One of the most challenging fields that needs the brightest minds to collaborate on today is that of environmental sciences. The Earth is at a tipping point and we face a stark choice: either we continue as we are or we harness our unique power to lead and innovate ways to clean the air. The modern world we have built is at odds with the planet we live on. Forests and natural land are vital to human health and happiness, helping to prevent global warming and producing oxygen that we breathe.

The earth is warming faster than expected and the planet’s energy imbalance — the difference between how much of the sun’s energy the planet absorbs and how much radiates back out to space — has doubled since 2005, an increase equivalent to every person on Earth using 20 electric tea kettles at once!

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… the amount of ice that Earth has lost since 1994 due to global warming, according to British scientists who analysed satellite surveys of the planet’s poles, mountains and glaciers. 60% of the ice loss was from the northern hemisphere, and the remainder from the southern.

The rate of ice loss has risen by 57% since the 1990s — from 0.8 to 1.2 trillion tonnes per year. This has drawn attention to the fact that the melting of ice in staggering quantities is reducing Earth’s ability to reflect solar radiation back into space. Melting glaciers and ice sheets could cause sea levels to rise dramatically. Every centimetre of sea-level rise means about a million people will be displaced from their low-lying homelands.

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Global warming is one of the prominent topics of discussion these days. The way we’re polluting our environmental surrounding has drastically contributed towards global warming. The smoke emitted from vehicles, burning plastic materials and litter have led to the destruction of the ozone layer thereby allowing harmful UV rays to enter earth’s atmosphere. Due to global warming we become victims of many diseases, ecological imbalances and varying seasonal changes. The government should take necessary steps to make people aware of this dangerous situation. If the careless attitude of ‘letting things go’ continues, then the day is not far when you’ll have to pay for it dearly!
Sujish Kandampully (22)
Nagpur

The carbon dioxide emitted by the burning of conventional fuels is causing a rise in global atmospheric temperature. These gases rise above in the air and react with the ozone layer of the atmosphere forming holes, thereby allowing the harmful rays of the sun reaching the earth. Global warming is a dramatically urgent and serious problem. We don’t need to wait for governments to find a solution for this problem. We ourselves can take necessary measures like saving water, planting trees, recycling, etc.
Sarah Chaudhary (13)
Mary Immaculate Girls’ High School, Mumbai

When I was small I dreamt of walking through the rainforest with hundreds of butterflies flittering around, but now I wonder whether we would have at least the forests around. We are the only animals who cut the trees to make paper and then we write ‘SAVE TREES’ on the same paper. Trees are the backbone of our ecosystem and by destroying it we are welcoming global warming. Scientists have asserted that by 2040, water will blanket many coastal regions due to the melting of snow in polar region. Nature is our only home so we must conserve it. We must bear in mind that when earth will get hot, we all will go cold.
Veena Atul Velankar (15)
Little Flower Convent High School, Solapur

If we call the earth our mother, then we should soon call ourselves matricides. We the human beings are largely responsible for these insurmountable circumstances like floods, droughts and earthquakes that arise due to global warming. In this race of becoming a mercenary, we are forgetting to become a philanthropist first. It’s high time we think about the water and forest conservation rather than looking for water and life on the mars. And it’s high time for the human race to join hands and step towards sustainable development before our Mother Earth closes her arms for the generations to come. “It’s never too late to mend”. We can always start with these three R’s — REDUCE, REUSE , RECYCLE, and minimize the amount of waste generated!
Himani Jain (16)
M.G.N. Public School, U.E.2

Global warming — threat to mankind and result of human ambition. The indiscriminate exploitation of the natural resources has endangered the very existence of the life on earth. For sure it’s a serious challenge to human intelligence and their scientific minds which actualized the so-called development and modernization of society. So now the need of the hour is lots and lots of awareness about human responsibility to use the nature prudently to minimize dangerous consequences of global warming.
Bhavpreeta Verma (16)
St Angela Sophia School, Jaipur

Global warming is one of the most suffocating threats not only for our country but also for our vast and diverse world. Ozone depletion — the result of global warming — is really a harassing issue for our coming generations as well as the present generation. We know well global warming is the result of pollution, population, illiteracy, etc. According to me, the odd-even rule in Delhi is going to be effective. If we desire something good then it is essential to compromise and invest. If we desire to live healthy and breathe clean air then it is unavoidable to compromise with our four-wheelers. Population must be controlled, because more population more pollution and it is possible by removing illiteracy. Thinking and writing need to be accompanied by action plan to safeguard the nature.
Surabhi Pandey (16)
Patna Central School, Patna

“OMG! The earth is burning!” Should we not try to curb it? At our level the simple concept of the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle would prove beneficial. The best thing since 2016 started was the odd-even formula in New Delhi which many other countries have adopted so that people carpool and less CO2 and SO2 are released by vehicles. Solar energy harvesting is a one-time expense that would tremendously cut down electricity bills. Mother Earth has selflessly provided us with resources to survive; now it’s our turn to repay her.
Pahul Sond (17)
MGN UE2, Jalandhar

Global warming has been the reason for melting of polar ice and rise in sea level causing floods in coastal areas. This all can only be stopped by decreasing the use of fossil fuels and increasing the use of clean fuel such as CNG and Gobar gas as fuels in vehicles. Also, we can decrease our use of Activas and bikes and instead use cycle (for travelling short distances) and public transport such as bus and local trains (for long distance transportation).
Manasvi Vyas (14)
Saint Patrick’s Vidya Bhawan, Jodhpur

Recent report from NASA states that the year 2015 was the hottest year till now!!  Just imagine guys just 15 yrs have been completed in this century and out of which one year was hottest among all. Many record breaking natural calamities too happened in those 15 years. We have 84 more years in this century. How many records will be broken in Olympics? It will be much lesser when we compare that to losses due to natural calamities. Leaders around the world must now take some serious actions otherwise this century will face series of disasters.
R. Milan Patel
Campion Anglo-Indian High School, Tiruchirappalli

Today, global warming is one of the major problems that world is facing. Changing weather conditions, various diseases and many other environmental problems, are the results of global warming. This is the consequence of the mistakes that people committed by cutting trees and destroying the nature and now, its nature’s turn to take the revenge. In my opinion, each and every person should plant a tree, plastic should be banned and our efforts should be to make the earth green again.
Divyakriti Masaun
Jhansi

There are many reasons for climate change; however the major contributor of the climate change is global warming. Many human activities and technological development in the world are forcing the greenhouse gases to increase which in turn increase the temperature of the environment drastically. Higher temperature causes problems to the existence of life on this planet even many important species of the plants and animals have been endangered. Longer and severe heat waves of the environment cause more heat-related injuries and increase rate of water evaporation from smaller water bodies. In such a hot environment, it is very hard to grow some crops. Corn production may reduce by 10 to 30% if the temperature rises by 3.6º F.
Dipchrang A. Sangma (16)
Don Bosco Secondary School, Tura

Recent records has shown water scarcity, increase in temperature caused by carbon dioxide emissions, reduction of forest area. Global warming has questioned the stability of Antarctic ice sheet. Different environment groups around the world play their role in educating people in protecting this planet. Air, water, soil, land pollution and climate change have brought a huge impact on nature. Even after being aware of this people don’t take steps to prevent pollution. It’s a matter of life and death. SAVE MOTHER EARTH, SAVE WATER, SAVE LIVES.
Aster Shail Vas (16)
St Aloysius PU College, Mangalore

Global warming is the greatest challenge facing our planet. It is, in fact, the increase in the temperature of the earth’s neon-surface air. Several current trends clearly demonstrate that global warming effects rising of sea levels, the melting of ice caps and significant worldwide climate changes. In short, global warming represents a fundamental threat to all living things on earth. So teens, your ambition should be to stop emissions, because it takes “cool people to help a warm planet”.
Riya Paliwal (15)
St Angela Sophia Sr. Sec. School, Jaipur

Global warming is a burning environmental issue all over the world. It is steady and continuous rise in the level of earth’s temperature. Day by day it is endangering the life on the earth. Urgent steps must be taken to control it, otherwise it will cause a great chaos. And the language “IT’S TOO LATE” is very unsuitable for most environmental concerns. The sooner we act, the better it is!
Sanjana Agarwal (14)
St Anthony’s Jr College, Agra

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