Question: what happens if all the trees were cut down would wee manidj to still breath

Helen Gath answered on 16 Jun 2014:

Hi! I could certainly say a lot about this topic! The way in which our atmosphere is changing with increased global warming will, and already is, affecting our breathing. But we should also see the bigger picture in your question, that losing trees will have an astounding number of other bad effects, and not just change our breathing.

So, would we still breathe? We know we need lots of oxygen in the atmosphere to breathe, but in fact, trees are not the only plants which produce oxygen; grasses, shrubs, bushes…many other plants release some oxygen into the atmosphere, however, they are no able to do so on such a great scale as trees. What can be misleading is that many people talk about trees producing oxygen so we can breathe, but the key role of trees is there amazing ability to absorb carbon dioxide (one of the many green house gases contributing to warming) and keep it locked up in their trunks. It’s almost like they clean the air for us, rather than produce it. If we didn’t have trees, there would be an unbearable level of CO2 in the air. Trees are the reason that animals and humans evolved into what we are today. Trees made our planet an oxygen rich, suitable place to live, so without them….the future doesn’t look great, breathing will become harder 🙁 but we’re a very long way from anything like that happening.

Breathing is already becoming difficult to many people in many countries. An increasing number of pollutants in the air, like carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide, are actually irritants to our lungs. They can damage the lining of our throat and lungs, not only making breathing difficult but making us susceptible to bacteria and diseases. In big cities where levels of pollution are high, you generally find people have more respiratory (breathing) problems, more people have asthma, and generally poor health. Sadly we are already seeing the negative impacts of a poorer air quality across the world.

Hopefully you’re not bored, and you’ve vaguely understood what I have said?! But I want to briefly say that trees are not only crucial for purifying our air (high in O2, low in CO2), but they play many important roles to the rest of the environment. They provide homes and food for thousands of other animals, and even plants, which maintains BIODIVERISTY on our planet. They help regulate the quality of soil so that we can grow crops to eat. Poor quality soil can also lead to more flooding….and no-body likes that!

Hopefully i’ve answered your question, and you’ve also learnt a bit about other important reasons why we need to save our trees 🙂