The Climate Report #379 | The Services Plants Provide | 6-26-23

THE SERVICES PLANTS PROVIDE
EPISODE #379 OF THE CLIMATE REPORT

We have a livable planet because we have a living planet.

If we want to continue to have a livable planet, we need to nurture the plant matter. We humans have eliminated about half the plant matter that previously existed on the planet. The key to restoring a functioning climate is to restore the plant matter. The plants will do most of the work, but we have to set the stage for them to survive and thrive.

In this episode we look at 15 of the services that plants provide, including the following:
- Plants make rain and nurture our water cycles.
- Plants help streams flow more steadily, thus benefiting all the ecosystems that depend on the stream.
- Plants cast shade, cooling their surroundings. This is true of smaller plants, not just trees.
- Plants enrich the soil, creating the conditions whereby plants, animals and fungi can get the nutrition they need and be resilient in the face of drought.
- Plants perform photosynthesis, thus converting the sun’s energy into calories for animals, and also providing oxygen for us to breathe.
- Plants transpire water. Humans perspire. Plants transpire. They thus make their surroundings cool and moist, so life can prosper and the rain can fall.
- Plants gather nutrients and turn them into biological form. This benefits the plant, and also helps the myriad other beings that feed upon plant matter.
- Plants provide food for caterpillars and birds.
- Plants provide food for pollinators.
- Plants regulate the climate, thus preventing excessive warming, flooding and drought.

Plants will do all these things for us. Our job is to act intelligently and set the stage for plants to thrive and prosper so that all living things, including humans, might also thrive and prosper. We can do this in our forests, our farms and our landscapes. The opportunities surround us.