New Research Findings: There Are Over Three Trillion Trees on Earth

A recent academic study shows that there are currently more than three trillion trees on Earth, a number seven times greater than previously estimated by scientists. According to the Associated Press, citing the prestigious journal "Nature," published on Wednesday, September 2, it states that there are currently 3.04 trillion trees on the planet. However, based on research led by Thomas Crowther from Yale University, this number is thousands of billions less than the number of trees that previously existed on Earth. Crowther and his colleagues estimated the current number of trees using computer models and satellite imagery and calculated that before human civilization, there were 5.6 trillion trees on Earth. This means that since the beginning of human civilization, nearly half of the trees on Earth have been lost. Scientists previously believed there were 400 billion trees on the planet. Approximately 1.4 trillion of the trees on Earth are located in tropical and subtropical forests. According to this new research, humans cut down 15 billion trees annually while planting only five billion in their place. This results in a loss of ten billion trees per year, meaning that in about 300 years, all trees on Earth could be gone. Experts and environmental advocates have always emphasized the importance of trees in keeping the environment clean. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen in return. In Iran, the area of forests has not been stable and has been continuously decreasing in recent years. In this context, the head of Iran's Forests and Rangelands Organization stated last year that over the past decade, the area of forests in the country has not been stable and has shown a downward trend, announcing that Iran's forest area has faced a reduction of 14,000 hectares. Additionally, part of the vegetation cover of the Hamoun Wetland has burned, and more than 500 million tons of greenhouse gases are produced annually in Iran.