422 Trees Landscapes by Noel Hefele, Robert Marvin, and Yoshiko Mori

A recent Yale-led study put the approximate number of trees on earth at 3.04 trillion, over 7 times the previous global estimate of 400 billion. Instead of 61 trees for every human on planet earth, the new estimate is 422 trees. While good news, this study also claims a 46% decline in tree population since human civilization began.

Roughly 7–8 trees provide the oxygen one person requires for a year of breathing. US urban forests sequester over 700 million tons of carbon. Worldwide, the equivalent of almost 270,000 trees is either flushed or dumped in landfills every day (roughly 10 percent of that total is attributable to toilet paper). Prospect Park lost over 500 trees during Hurricane Sandy. Worldwide, our net loss is about 10 billion trees a year.

How do you value a tree? You only have 422 trees, knowing that, does it change how you look at an individual tree?422 sounds like a lot, but is it?

We are exhibiting three contrasting interpretations to landscape and the trees that live in them. Art can provide empathic aesthetic and emotional connections to these living beings, highlighting small moments of awareness and appreciation. Our trees can fade into the background of everyday life, but they are ever-present and necessary collaborators on a finite planet.