Check Out The Atlantic’s Cool Photo Appreciation of Trees

In a recent story for The Atlantic, Alan Taylor brought together a series of photos that showcase the ethereal beauty of trees and forests around the world. From Madagascar to Poland, Scotland, Hong Kong, and beyond, the photo appreciation includes everything from a Buddha head entwined within the roots of a tree in Thailand to an image of nude activists protesting the East Bay Deforestation Plan on the UC Berkeley campus. Taken together, the exploration reveals the range and magnitude of mankind’s relationship with trees– and it’s pretty fun to scroll through if you’re a nature junkie.

According to the most recent statistics, there are more trees on Earth than there are stars in the galaxy. (There are three Trillion trees on Earth, and 15.3 Billion of them are cut down each year. The Milky Way, by way of contrast, has an estimated 100 million stars. That’s 420 trees and roughly 16 stars per person on Earth!)

Recently, conservationists have doubled down on their attempt to slow the pace of domestic deforestation as Trump’s exiting of the Paris Climate Accord leaves public parks in the United States more vulnerable than ever. (Click here to read some of our reccomendations on what you can do to protect the environment, even if you can’t attend rallies.)

To see the rest of the photos, check out The Atlantic’s full story here.