Carbon Dioxide is a naturally occurring gas which, along with Oxygen and other gasses, is found in the air we breathe. We produce small amounts of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) when we exhale, but huge amounts are produced when we burn hydrocarbons (coal, petrol, gasoline, etc).

Over the last 100 years (or so) the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere has been increasing.

Carbon Dioxide is known as a “Greenhouse Gas” because, like a greenhouse, it raises the temperature by preventing the Sun’s rays from being reflected back into space.

The overall temperature of our planet is increasing because of the increasing levels of CO₂ in our atmosphere – this is known as Global Warming (or euphemistically; Climate Change). As our globe warms, the polar ice caps melt, ocean levels rise, and weather patterns all over the planet are disrupted.

We can reduce the rate of Global Warming in two ways. You can stop burning so much hydrocarbon – (turn down your heating, air conditioning, walk rather than drive, catch a bus or train rather than use your car) – or you can reduce the amount of CO₂ in the air by planting trees.

Trees soak up CO₂ and turn it into Wood. The more trees we plant the more we slow the rate of Global Warming.