Tuesday 29 August 2017

Build The Treehouse Of Your Dreams

Our childhood was often filled with laughter, imagination, active play and lots of adventure back in the days. We actually went out of the house to have a good time. Looking back, our childhood wasn’t so bad at all. It is a stark contradiction to how kids pass their time these days. Most youngsters are glued to their smart gadgets and totally immersed in their virtual life.

But we can change that. As adults, we can recreate our childhood and let our kids have a great time without the use of technology all the time. For starters, why not take away their gadgets and limit their use daily. When they don’t have their gadgets to tinker with, kids will be forced to use their imagination to entertain themselves and actually do something else with their hands. And a tree house fits the purpose of livening up their childhood to a T.

“The treehouse just grew up,” says host Pete Nelson at the start of Animal Planet’s “Treehouse Masters” — and he means it.

Just as comic book superheroes and video games have been absorbed into the adult world, “Treehouse Masters” allows grownups to enjoy an enduring symbol of American childhood.

The entertaining and informative show, which has aired over 70 episodes since 2013 and was just renewed for a new season, follows the treehouse-building exploits of Nelson, who is owner of Nelson Treehouse and Supply in Fall City, Washington, where he’s surrounded by some of the world’s most gorgeous forests. Picture an outdoorsy Mr. Rogers after a few cups of coffee —that’s Nelson. He brings a kid-like enthusiasm to a kid-like endeavor, but with distinctly mature twists.

(Via: https://www.lifezette.com/popzette/treehouses-have-never-looked-good-this-show-knows-it/)

The funny thing about building tree houses is the joy it gives to the adult aside from that of the child. Often times you’d see the adult showing more emotion than their kids. Indeed, it is a great way for a parent and a child to bond. You can stay up in the tree house and make up all sorts of adventure in your own little make believe world. Kids and adults alike can also use this space as their cozy getaway when they want to be just by themselves and do some self-reflection, reading, or just about anything else they want to.

Dozens of volunteers in the village of Hamburg on Friday began building a $450,000 playground that will be more than your average swing set and slide.

The Hamburg Community Playground will be "a true destination playground," playground committee member Jennifer Gallardo predicted during the planning.

With five slides, swings, ring climber, spinner and a two-way zip line, tight rope bridge, fire pole and more, there should be something for every child when it's built.

(Via: http://buffalonews.com/2017/04/28/construction-starts-hamburg-community-playground/)

But what if an entire community pledges to realize such an ambitious feat for young kids to play with? The result is an epic tree house where kids can get lost for hours while enjoying themselves and honing their muscular agility and dexterity at a young age.

It's a common-sense rule of treehouse construction: Make it lightweight. So I felt some stirrings of anxiety when the stocky, bearded sawmill owner pulled up to the house with a flatbed trailer stacked with oak timbers. Full of water, densely grained and smelling like bourbon, the rough-cut framing lumber I'd ordered spanned 18 feet and looked like bridge supports. As we offloaded the first 2 x 8, each of us taking an end in hand, I smiled doggedly to mask the strain I felt. He peered over the garden fence past the lilac bushes, and politely asked, "What kind of treehouse are you building?"

One thing was certain: It wouldn't look much like the rickety aeries of my childhood, hammered together out of whatever construction scraps and packing crates we neighborhood kids could scrounge up. (The most ambitious of these was a three-story fort spanning a creek and topped by a crow's-nest made from an old kitchen chair nailed to the trunk.) This time, I'd enjoy the advantages of milled lumber and a carpenter's square and level, not to mention power tools. Yet I hoped to match the spirit of those earlier tree forts with a rustic structure where my children could waste their afternoons dreaming up rules to games I'd never understand or even hear about.

(Via: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/how-to/a5490/how-to-build-a-treehouse/)

Make a plan and determine what your tree house will look like before rolling your sleeves and start working on it. Pick a sturdy platform because that will serve as your tree house’s base. While the tree house will likely be frequented by youngsters, it should still be strong enough to carry their combined weights and even survive inclement weather. It’s a treat for kids to have their own tree house where they can hang out with their friends and make pretend play. It’s one of the best gifts any parent can give to their children instead of buying them yet another gadget that is just as pricey. The memories they can make from their own little fort is priceless.

On the other hand, if a tree is proving to be a major obstruction in your home and poses a security threat, having it cut down is unavoidable. When that happens, you can contact http://www.allcleartree.com/removal for professional tree removal help because things like this can go from bad to worse fast, so better let the pros deal with it right from the start.

The article Build The Treehouse Of Your Dreams was originally published on http://www.allcleartree.com/



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Tuesday 15 August 2017

The World Needs More Trees For Humans To Survive

Trees are here for various reasons. During ancient times, trees provided food and shelter to both man and animals. Fruit-bearing trees provided us with tasty and juicy fruits to satisfy our hunger and give us the energy we need to pursue our various interests in life. And when we started using tools, we cut down trees and fashioned them in different forms like in building homes and furniture making. Trees also provide excellent shade for all forms of life especially when the heat of the sun is too much and we need a temporary relief from it once in a while.

But if there is one more thing that we need most from trees for human life to flourish is the oxygen it produces. Man will perish if there is no more oxygen in the planet. The same thing can be said if carbon output shoots up way, way, way above normal. Unfortunately, that is the reality we are now facing in the world. CO₂ levels in the atmosphere are so high it is almost impossible to bring them back to normal range even if we keep on planting new trees.

Humans emit roughly 30 to 40 billion tons of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere each year. If we keep it up, Earth will continue to heat up and ultimately devastate our way of life.

So what can we do about it?

Most scientists agree that we need a way to capture some of that CO2 out of the atmosphere. One idea is to plant lots of trees. Trees use CO2 in order to grow. They also release oxygen, so it's a win-win.

But recent reports indicate that we simply can't grow enough trees to capture the necessary amount of CO2 that would help us meet the goals set by the Paris Agreement.

In truth, we would have to cover the entire contiguous US with trees just to capture 10% of the CO2 we emit annually.

(Via: http://www.businessinsider.com/so-much-co2-planting-trees-cant-save-us-2017-5)

But planting these trees isn’t as easy as A-B-C or 1-2-3. For starters, we don’t have enough space on the planet to plant these trees that can totally wipe out all the carbon emissions in the atmosphere. And most of the land is also used for planting crops. If we don’t plant crops, we starve. If we don’t plant trees, mankind may ultimately die. We are currently trapped in this confusing dilemma.

A new report from the Potsdam Institute in Germany shows that planting trees and other plants to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere cannot substitute for cutting carbon emissions.

Growing trees and other kinds of "biomass" have been thought of as an effective countermeasure against our rising global carbon emissions. In fact, countries that preserve forests or green spaces can receive carbon credits that they can trade or sell to other countries that are polluters. 

The researchers looked at several scenarios. One was the the "business-as-usual" scenario, in which greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at current rates, and which scientists fear could lead to a global average temperature rise of 4.5 C by 2100. They found that if we want trees to absorb all that extra carbon, even if we converted all of our agricultural land to biomass cultivation, it cannot be done without experiencing the "most dire consequences for food production or the biosphere."

(Via: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/trees-carbon-emissions-bob-mcdonald-1.4132679)

The rationale to this massive tree planting concept is because tree needs carbon dioxide to build their tissues. In return, they release oxygen that is needed by man for survival. Our increasingly advancing technology has resulted in carbon emissions that have severely clouded the atmosphere and has endangered everyone living on the planet because of climate change. Unfortunately, even if we cover every open space in the planet with trees, it won’t be able to totally eradicate all the carbon emissions already clouding the atmosphere right now.

As of now, we haven’t found a solution yet on how to address this problem because there are numerous challenges that must first be overcome and they aren’t easy hurdles too. However, it won’t hurt if you plant more trees when you can and do your part in saving the world in your own little ways. But on the contrary, when the presence of a tree presents more harm than good, don’t hesitate to cut it down because ultimately, human life is still more valuable than it. Contact http://www.allcleartree.com/removal for expert yet affordable assistance on tree removal to ensure that no one gets hurt in the process. Try to help out Mother Nature in many other ways because as of now, it needs all the help it can get.

The blog post The World Needs More Trees For Humans To Survive is republished from allcleartree.com



source http://www.allcleartree.com/removal/world-needs-trees-humans-survive

Tuesday 8 August 2017

Trump No Longer In Agreement With The Paris Climate Accord

US President Donald Trump’s colorful personality and controversial opinions have captured the attention of many over the years. Despite his many flaws, though, one can not argue his love for his country. It’s this passion for the land of the free and the home of the brave that helped him win the presidential seat against a veteran in politics like Hillary Clinton. The ones who voted for him truly believed that Trump can deliver his promise of making America great again but is he doing a good job at it now.

Unfortunately, his performance ever since he assumed office isn’t impressive at all. What he has accomplished so far was use up a big chunk of the nation’s resources in tracking down and deporting illegal immigrants, shutting the border from refugees, cutting down the budget on government agencies he does not consider to be important like the education, arts, and even the US Environmental Protection Agency as well as issue more travel bans that only resulted to the Trump Slump.

Donald Trump, who called climate change “a hoax” during his campaign, has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, rejecting a pact that is being honored by more than 190 nations.

The U.S. signed and ratified the agreement under President Obama, and it is a pact that is also heavily backed by U.S. and global corporations, including oil companies ExxonMobil, BP, and Royal Dutch Shell.

The U.S., the world’s second largest producer of greenhouse gases after China, committed in Paris to cutting its carbon emissions by between 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.

Trump justified his reversal of the U.S. commitment made to the world in Paris with the wholly unsubstantiated claim that the agreement is bad for U.S. business and labor.

The Paris Agreement aims at preventing dangerous climate change and keeping the world well below a 2 degree Celsius (3.6 degree Fahrenheit) average temperature rise over preindustrial levels. Studies have shown that the emission cuts volunteered by the world’s nations in Paris are still deeply inadequate for meeting that goal, and Trump’s move will only steepen the very difficult climb to climate stability and safety.

(Via: https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/trump-withdraws-u-s-from-paris-climate-accord-scientists-respond/)

This recent move from Trump is no longer surprising considering how vocal he was in saying that climate change is just a hoax for government organizations to get more money and federal support. However, he shouldn’t let his personal biases cloud his judgment when millions of lives rely on his decisions. He is the voice of America. So, are we now ready to face the implications of his decision to get out of the Paris Climate Agreement?

The U.S.’s withdrawal could prompt other countries to reconsider their contributions. Or it could have the opposite effect. The Trump Administration is leaving the energy technologies of the future to other countries to develop, and many nations see an economic opportunity. As the headline of a recent post on Foreign Policy’s Web site put it,“If Trump Dumps the Paris Accord, China Will Rule the Energy Future.” It is telling that several of the U.S.’s largest tech companies, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Intel, signed an open letter to Trump, urging him to “keep the United States in the Paris Agreement.” The letter states, “By expanding markets for innovative clean technologies, the agreement generates jobs and economic growth.” On Tuesday, Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, reportedly put in a call to the President, urging him to remain in the agreement.

In another open letter to the President, which ran as a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal, the heads of thirty other mammoth companies, including 3M, Cargill, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley, wrote to express their “strong support for the United States remaining in the Paris Climate Agreement.” The C.E.O.s said that they were concerned about the “strong potential for negative trade implications if the United States exits from the Paris Agreement.”

(Via: http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/au-revoir-trump-exits-the-paris-climate-accord)

Trump’s flair for drama or his unorthodox view on things is not doing the country any good so far. He should remember that his actions represent the country in general and that’s how other countries see the US on the outside. Moreover, this action can cause more damage to our already deteriorating environment. Just how much everyone will suffer from this decision, we are yet to find out. Others are also concerned how other countries will react to this strange move from America. It might trigger them to do away with the agreement themselves and further harm our planet and even speed up climate change.

In as much as we want to preserve the environment and advocate for tree-planting whenever possible, there are instances when trees can also pose harm to the people around it. For example, trees can fall down because of strong winds or storms and damage properties and endanger human lives. To prevent that from happening, make sure you get those big trees trimmed down http://www.allcleartree.com/trimming with our professional help, so the risk of it falling down is reduced. Hence, you no longer need to cut down more trees when we need them more badly than ever now.

The following article Trump No Longer In Agreement With The Paris Climate Accord is republished from AllClearTree.com



source http://www.allcleartree.com/trimming/trump-no-longer-agreement-paris-climate-accord

Tuesday 1 August 2017

Fight Pollution Along Busy City Streets

Fighting pollution is a never-ending struggle in our day-to-day. Imagine you’re all dressed up for work early in the morning but you suddenly look haggard after fighting your way through traffic and the accompanying smoke from other vehicles as you step out of your car and make your way to school or work. Pollution will always be a part of city life. How unfortunate it may seem but is actually our fault.

Now, local governments are doing their best in lining city streets with trees to reduce pollution levels and make the air cleaner and healthier for the people to breathe. Even through this simple measure, the air in major thoroughfares becomes cleaner. It may be baby steps to healthier living but better to have this than nothing at all.

Trees need to be compatible with their environment to maximize their ability to survive and influence urban air quality, a new study has suggested.

Based on the findings, a team of Filipino scientists has come up with a “menu” identifying which species can withstand the air quality in seven of Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfares: Edsa, Ortigas Avenue, Roxas Boulevard, Taft Avenue, Pasay Road, C3 and C5 Road.

The list was the product of a yearlong study which ended last year and looked at 47 tree species found on major roads. Of this number, 18 species were native or indigenous to the country.

“There is a notion that if you plant a tree, it helps the environment. But you need to plant the right tree that can adopt to the environment that we have. If we plant the wrong tree in a particular environment, if it’s not tolerant, it may die,” said Dr. Glenn Sia Su, the main proponent of the research.

(Via: http://motioncars.inquirer.net/49357/study-lists-16-pollution-tolerant-trees-7-busiest-metro-roads)

With the help of science, we may be able to implement effective and efficient programs to help solve the pollution problem in most major cities. Local government units should keep this in mind when making local policies that address this issue to ensure their efforts don’t go down the drain.

The connection between trees, human health and well-being dates back millennia. The ancient Celts worshipped in sacred groves, believing the trees would protect them from physical and spiritual harm. In Hebrew and Christian scriptures a tree of life in the Garden of Eden imparted immortality. Potted conifers helped to cleanse the air inside tuberculosis sanatoriums of nineteenth century Europe.

In recent years, scientists studying urban forests have turned up links between exposure to green space and health benefits, including fewer deaths from heart disease and respiratory diseases, fewer hospitalizations, better infant birth weights and even less crime.

“We’ve had this intuitive understanding that nature is good for us. Now we’re backing it up on an empirical level,” said Geoffrey Donovan, a resource economist with the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station in Oregon.

Donovan and others are digging into the underlying science to understand the relationship between nature and health, a step they say will help guide the design of healthier cities and suburbs.

(Via: http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2017/april/trees-science-and-the-goodness-of-green-space)

We can’t deny the positive correlation between green space and optimum health of the people. Numerous studies support such claims that human health improves in the presence of nature. While it is impossible to uproot ancient trees from the rainforest and transplant them in the city, we can still plant new ones that will be effective in reducing particulate matter in the air, and eventually reduce air pollution levels.

We may take it for granted now but over time we will realize how valuable these measures are when the world is overtaken by technology in the near future. The best time to plant trees is now. It takes a long time for them to grow, so we should no longer dilly-dally and just plant them along busy city streets while we still can and make the world still livable for the generations to come.

Other times, though, trees weren’t placed in strategic locations and become a bother to people and properties as they grow and mature. They may likewise get toppled down during calamities and affect the day-to-day of tens to thousands of people. To take care of this mess and remove the tree including its stump, call the pros for help http://www.allcleartree.com/stump-removal so they can get rid of the troublesome tree and stump safely and without affecting nearby properties. It may sound easy but tree removal requires careful planning especially if it is an urban location.

The post Fight Pollution Along Busy City Streets is courtesy of All Clear Tree Service's Blog



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