TREES

As we are in Australia, Summer brings with it not only the hot weather and fun at the beach, but also the real threat and danger of bushfires. For the past few weeks, devastating bushfires have been burning thousands of hectares of bushland in NSW and Queensland. As the hot and windy weather is now with us in Victoria, bushfires are expected here also.

Not only do we see devastating losses of homes and property, but also loss of life as people struggle to save their homes and livelihoods. There is a profound environmental loss also, with trees, wildlife and natural resources burnt and reduced to ash.

Climate change has been quoted as a major cause of our increased incidence of extensive bushfires, but also there are other causes - and for many of these humans are directly responsible:

  Poor preparation for the fire season with lack of back-burning and land clearing in forests;

  Building of homes too close to bushland; 

  Electric power lines in direct contact with trees; 

  Careless behaviour involving fire - cigarettes, campfires, power tools, etc;

  And the most reprehensible of all, arson!

Trees are a valuable resource and we depend on them for not only wood and other products, but also more importantly perhaps, as the conditioners of our atmosphere, our oxygen producers and removers of carbon dioxide. Without trees, our planet is doomed. It is up to us to save our trees, our planet, our lives and the lives of our children.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.