What is CO2?
The chemical abbreviation CO2 stands for carbon dioxide. This is a colorless, non-flammable, odorless gas that is composed of carbon and oxygen. But CO2 is not just any gas. In the world today, emissions of CO2 are increasing at a breakneck pace. Particularly the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil is responsible for the ongoing generation of CO2 . It is this continually increasing concentration of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere that is responsible for the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases absorb the infrared rays (heat rays) that are discharged from the earth after coming initially from the sun and then reflect this heat back towards the earth’s surface. This has the effect of warming the earth and the lowest layer of the atmosphere.
Every tree, at every location on the globe, filters approximately 10 kilograms of CO2 (carbon dioxide) out of our atmosphere per year.
WHAT DOES MY TRIP HAVE TO DO WITH CO2 ?
Nowadays all of us are nearly constantly on the move – traveling by car and plane, by bus or train or ship. What we often forget in this situation is that through this mobility we also are also continuously emitting CO2 (carbon dioxide) into our environment – without being able to influence it.
Regardless of where the tree is growing, it is removing the surrounding CO2 from the atmosphere. Each tree absorbs approximately 10 kg of CO2 per year from our atmosphere – and every single gram of absorbed CO2 is working against global warming. Forests are the world’s most natural and effective carbon reservoirs. They convert CO2 very efficiently into wood and oxygen and thus make a valuable contribution to the protection of our climate.
