{"id":1073,"date":"2015-12-04T13:46:50","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T13:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/?p=1073"},"modified":"2015-12-04T13:50:30","modified_gmt":"2015-12-04T13:50:30","slug":"12-4-15-climate-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/12-4-15-climate-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"12.4.15 Climate Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On November 30, the United Nations Climate Change Conference began in France. Last night, a 10-ton, 78-foot tall, 80-year-old Norway Spruce was lit up as this year\u2019s Rockefeller Christmas Tree.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the connection. An average-sized mature tree can absorb an estimated 13 lbs of carbon annually, and an acre of trees absorbs about 2.6 tons. That\u2019s interesting, because each person produces about 2.3 tons of carbon per year. So 1 person \u2248 1 acre of trees. If you consider that the United States contains approximately 2.6 billion acres of land, you can see how much potential we have for absorbing carbon.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take this for a holiday spin. If each family in the United States planted a live Christmas tree this year, the total yearly carbon output of the country would be immediately reduced by 5%. In addition, the Forest Service estimates that, over a 50-year life span, each one of those trees would produce $31,250 worth of oxygen, provide $62,000 worth of air pollution control, recycle $37,500 worth of water, and control $31,250 worth of soil erosion. The benefits are even better in urban locations. City trees that shade buildings and cut down on air conditioning are as environmentally beneficial as 15 trees planted away from buildings.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, should the Rockefeller Center folks consider bringing a live tree to Manhattan? Only if they\u2019re willing to deal with a root ball some 40 feet across. But for the rest of us, a live Christmas tree may be a good idea. A little heavy to be sure, but entirely manageable. Just remember to keep it well-watered, and don\u2019t keep it too long in the heat of the house. And, if you live in the north, you may want to go dig your planting hole now, before the ground freezes. Consider it a holiday gift to the environment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Christmas-Tree-Lighting-Rockefeller-Center.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1075 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Christmas-Tree-Lighting-Rockefeller-Center.jpg?resize=300%2C225\" alt=\"Christmas-Tree-Lighting-Rockefeller-Center\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Christmas-Tree-Lighting-Rockefeller-Center.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Christmas-Tree-Lighting-Rockefeller-Center.jpg?w=500&amp;ssl=1 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As for that Norway Spruce in Rockefeller Center, it thankfully has a little more holiday value to offer beyond the Christmas festivities. After January 7, when it is taken down, it will be milled into boards and donated to Habitat for Humanity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On November 30, the United Nations Climate Change Conference began in France. Last night, a 10-ton, 78-foot tall, 80-year-old Norway Spruce was lit up as this year\u2019s Rockefeller Christmas Tree. Here\u2019s the connection. An average-sized mature tree can absorb an estimated 13 lbs of carbon annually, and an acre of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1493],"class_list":["post-1073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10","tag-rockefeller-center-christmas-tree-climate-change"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1073"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1077,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073\/revisions\/1077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quicksilverhg.com\/thequicksliver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}