Nature's tipping point: combating global climate change must include trees.

Global climate change is once again making headlines, but this time with a difference. It used to be those who were talking about the reality of global warming who were marginalized; now that stigma belongs to those who don't. Time magazine recently cited a Time/ABC News/Stanford University poll that "85% of respondents agree that global warming probably is happening. Moreover, most respondents say they want some action taken."

There have been some improvements, but the changes to date are not enough. Climate change has brought rapidly receding glaciers, melting polar ice caps, thawing permafrost in Alaska, species migration, and increasing storm frequency and intensity. The practical reality is that the costs of climate change to businesses will continue to rise.

It's clear that environment, energy, and economics are inextricably entwined; you can't care for one while ignoring the others. Trees and managed forests can help us address these issues simultaneously.

Of the eight greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]) is the most abundant, constituting over half of the total heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. The planetary counterbalance to this build-up has been the oceans, which absorb the gas, and the trees and forests, which "fix" carbon dioxide into their structure during photosynthesis. Ninety percent of the carbon that is fixed in solid form on the Earth's surface is held in the world's forests. Forest trees take in 26 pounds of atmospheric carbon dioxide a year and release about 13 pounds of oxygen, enough to keep a family of four breathing for one year.

AMERICAN FORESTS began addressing climate change with tree planting nearly 20 years ago. It was a difficult sell at that time, and we lost some sponsors over what was then considered a radical stand on global climate change. Today corporations are planting trees to sequester carbon and offset their business's contribution to global climate change. Everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Seventeen magazine to myspace.com is "talking trees" for mitigating carbon dioxide. Calculate your carbon debt with our on-line calculator: http://www.americanforests.org/resources/ccc. The average is about 30 trees per year per person to be debt-free.

Our corporate partner IKEA is going carbon-neutral by challenging its customers to offset greenhouse gas emissions by planting trees with AMERICAN FORESTS; IKEA is matching those contributions. Green Mountain Energy, a leading clean-electricity provider, has a portfolio of carbon-reduction services for businesses that includes tree planting with AMERICAN FORESTS. Boisset's French Rabbit wine, sold in recyclable ePods, plants trees with AMERICAN FORESTS to reinforce its environmental commitment. It's good business for major companies to actively promote paperless communications, pollution reduction strategies, and environmental restoration programs.

Business, commerce, transportation, and the environment are all part of our first look at regional perspectives that tie together the environment and economics (see Changing the Paradigm, pg. 30). Together they present this country's number one challenge for the future: How do we stay a force in global commerce if we cannot grow sustainably?

Protecting and restoring the nation's urban tree canopy, now being lost at an alarming rate, is a crucial part of sustainable growth and an effective way to counteract excess carbon. Trees in cities reduce energy use, a major cause of atmospheric carbon.

As you ponder what trees do for our environment, peruse our National Register of Big Trees, the definitive listing of the largest tree of each species in the U.S. While big trees don't sequester carbon as fast as young, growing trees, they are carbon sinks that store tremendous amounts of terrestrial carbon. They are symbols of good conservation and what it takes to grow a tree to its full potential.

As you celebrate spring, take another look at the trees around you and think about planting some more (www.americanforeststore.org). Unless we take immediate steps to deal with atmospheric carbon, we humans may find ourselves strangers in a strange land. Like the coyote found in New York's Central Park or the whale that swam up the Thames River in London, we may find ourselves out of place--and perhaps out of time.

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DEBORAH GANGLOFF

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR