In the midst of so much bad news about the environment, it was encouraging to read the article earlier this month about the value of planting trees as a way to address climate change (“How to fight climate change? Plant many trees”).
With this article as a backdrop, the City of Northampton deserves a great deal of credit for its ongoing tree-planting program. Over the past two years, the city has planted many young trees along the streets and sidewalks of Florence and Northampton — trees that will be both beautiful and shady, as they absorb carbon from the atmosphere, over the years to come.
Of course, Northampton’s tree planting program is only a small piece in the puzzle. Swiss researchers estimate that 1 trillion new trees will be necessary worldwide to thwart the looming climate change crisis, and that number is likely to rise, as rainforests continue to be decimated by logging. But every tree counts, and to see so many new trees being planted in Northampton and Florence gives me hope.
Sonia Krotkov
Florence