TeamTrees Offsets Only 12 Hours of US Emissions, Thunderf00t Says

TeamTrees vs REALITY!! — Thunderf00t

Thunderf00t

Planting 20 million trees provides an operationally negligible climate offset while pacifying donors with a false sense of progress against century-scale fossil emissions.

AI-assisted summary of TeamTrees vs REALITY!! — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published:

Key ideas

  • The Team Trees campaign goal of planting 20 million trees is mathematically negligible against US emissions, which would require planting 20 million trees twice per day to offset. (2:07)
  • Achieving US carbon neutrality purely through biomass would require roughly 10 billion trees annually, presenting insurmountable land and water constraints. (4:23)
  • The excess heat trapped by global greenhouse gases equals approximately 0.1% of incoming solar energy, an amount roughly ten times larger than humanity's entire global power production. (14:47)
  • Warming winters have enabled pine beetles to destroy 800 million trees in Colorado and 50% to 70% of forests in Wyoming's Wind River Range, rendering localized replanting counterproductive. (16:35)

Detailed notes

## Background This video was published on YouTube by the channel Thunderf00t on November 17, 2019. The show notes include links to support the creator on Patreon, visit their Amazon storefront, and check out their secondary channel.

## TL;DR Thunderf00t delivers a quantitative critique of the viral Team Trees campaign, which aimed to plant 20 million trees through one-dollar donations. He demonstrates that offsetting merely the annual carbon emissions of the United States would require planting 40 million trees every day, rendering the campaign operationally negligible and potentially pacifying activists into a false sense of accomplishment. The video shifts to examine institutional climate denial, empirical temperature records since 1880, and the physical scale of trapped solar energy compared to total human power output. Highlighting beetle-devastated forests in the Rocky Mountains and the temporary nature of biological carbon sequestration, he argues that the crisis demands hard-nosed scientific realism and technological research rather than symbolic charity gestures.

## Atmosphere & style The presentation is sharply critical, analytical, and uncompromisingly blunt, juxtaposing the sunny, upbeat promotional clips of prominent YouTubers with sobering, hard-hitting mathematical realities. Thunderf00t adopts a combative yet educational lecture style, alternating between exasperation at climate denialists like Steven Crowder and pragmatic frustration with well-meaning viral campaigns. On-the-ground footage of dead forests in the Wind River Range grounds the abstract numbers in stark ecological reality. The viewing experience feels like a cold, sobering reality check, aiming to replace comfortable emotional placebos with the harsh scientific magnitude of the climate crisis.

## Bulletin - [02:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=127s) The Team Trees campaign goal of planting 20 million trees is mathematically negligible against US emissions, which would require planting 20 million trees twice per day to offset. - [04:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=263s) Achieving US carbon neutrality purely through biomass would require roughly 10 billion trees annually, presenting insurmountable land and water constraints. - [14:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=887s) The excess heat trapped by global greenhouse gases equals approximately 0.1% of incoming solar energy, an amount roughly ten times larger than humanity's entire global power production. - [16:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=995s) Warming winters have enabled pine beetles to destroy 800 million trees in Colorado and 50% to 70% of forests in Wyoming's Wind River Range, rendering localized replanting counterproductive.

## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=0s) Prominent YouTube creators launched Team Trees to plant 20 million trees for $20 million, framing it as a major collective blow against climate change. - [02:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=127s) Offsetting annual US carbon emissions would require planting 40 million trees every single day, exposing Team Trees' total target as functionally negligible. - [02:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=127s) Well-intentioned charity campaigns risk pacifying activists by fostering a false sense of accomplishment while failing to convince climate skeptics. - [04:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=263s) A $20 million campaign represents a negligible civic cost—roughly 10 cents per US taxpayer, or the equivalent of a single B-1 bomber. - [04:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=263s) Biomass calculations reveal that even planting 200 million trees and assuming unrealistically fast growth would offset merely 2% of annual US fossil fuel emissions. - [04:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=263s) Sequestering fossil carbon through reforestation requires establishing vast new forests, creating recurring conflicts over land and water rights. - [08:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=512s) Grassroots tree campaigns fail to address the core problem of institutional climate denial within the US government and the appointment of skeptics to the EPA. - [12:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=723s) NASA GISS temperature records demonstrate persistent warming, with virtually every year since 1985 ranking among the top ten hottest on record up to that point. - [12:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=723s) Claims of a global warming 'hiatus' by political commentators are demonstrably false and align with predictable stages of climate science denial. - [14:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=887s) All human energy generation combined equals only about one-tenth of the excess thermal energy trapped by greenhouse gas emissions. - [14:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=887s) Industrial fossil fuel combustion has driven atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from approximately 300 ppm to 400 ppm over the past century. - [16:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=995s) Pine beetle infestations illustrate regional forest collapse in the Rockies, where planting additional pines merely supplies more food for pests. - [18:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=1094s) Trees provide only temporary carbon storage for their century-long lifespans before decomposition releases carbon back into the atmosphere. - [18:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=1094s) Permanent removal of excavated fossil carbon ultimately relies on slow geological timescales rather than short-term biological cycles. - [18:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=1094s) Thunderf00t is pursuing a grant from the European Research Council to study an alternative fuel designed to capture atmospheric carbon and increase planetary albedo.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=0s) The Launch and Hype of Team Trees

A montage of high-profile creators introduces Team Trees, a collaborative initiative partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation aiming to plant 20 million trees by the year 2020. The campaign operates on a simple premise: a donation of one dollar equates to one tree planted. Prominent YouTube creators—including MrBeast, Mark Rober, MKBHD, and iJustine—call upon their collective audiences to translate online enthusiasm and "retweet activism" into tangible action. They emphasize that reforestation represents an effective natural solution to the climate crisis and implore viewers to donate immediately rather than postponing, presenting the project as an extraordinary opportunity for the internet community to unite across diverse genres and make a direct difference for the planet.

[02:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=127s) The Harsh Mathematical Reality

Thunderf00t introduces his analysis by noting that while he generally likes the responsible creators involved—such as Mark Rober, MKBHD, and iJustine—the project fundamentally misrepresents its operational effectiveness. Even if the project achieves every stated goal, its actual impact on global warming is virtually negligible. Addressing the audience directly with raw figures, he argues that the initiative creates a harmful illusion of accomplishment: “I mean I'll just give you the numbers straight up front just to offset merely the US carbon footprint you would need to plant 20 million trees twice per day every single day.”

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: TeamTrees Scale vs US Emissions Offset accDescr: A visual comparison contrasting the one-off TeamTrees goal of 20 million trees against the daily requirement of 40 million trees needed to offset US emissions.

subgraph Goal["Team Trees Campaign"] A["Team Trees Target<br/>20,000,000 trees total"] end

subgraph Reality["US Carbon Offset Requirement"] B["Daily Target: 40,000,000 trees/day<br/>(20M trees planted twice daily)"] C["Annual Target: ~10,000,000,000 trees/year"] B --> C end ```

Thunderf00t contends that Team Trees is ultimately counterproductive: it fails to persuade climate skeptics while simultaneously pacifying well-meaning activists into believing they have made a significant dent in the problem. He anticipates the defense that "at least their heart was in the right place," but rejects it on the grounds of intellectual honesty:

> “The only honest sales pitch here would be we're gonna make a gesture it's gonna be operationally insignificant it can't possibly hope to do anything to actually counter global warming but at least it's a gesture to highlight the order of magnitude of the problem at hand but that's not the sales pitch that comes from team trees their sales pitches this is awesome and amazing and all these youtubers are going to come together and they're gonna do something incredible.”

[04:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=263s) Federal Budgets, Biomass Math, and Ecological Limits

To demonstrate the true scale of the campaign's finances, Thunderf00t contrasts the $20 million target against government expenditures. Across approximately 200 million American taxpayers, raising $20 million represents a tax increase of merely 10 cents per person per year. In military terms, the entire campaign equates to the cost of a single B-1 bomber, which could fund Team Trees annually for 20 years. He proposes a hypothetical "$1 per year challenge" where citizens demand politicians fund tree planting, which would raise $200 million annually—equivalent to ten Team Trees projects every year.

Even under such an expanded scenario, the underlying biology highlights the limits of reforestation. Assuming 200 million trees were planted and, under an unrealistically optimistic scenario, reached a full weight of one ton within a single year (which in reality requires roughly 40 years), with half that mass being water and the rest accounting for absorbed carbon dioxide, the resulting offset amounts to approximately 100 million tons of $\text{CO}_2$. Because the United States emits roughly 5 billion tons of $\text{CO}_2$ each year from fossil fuels, ten Team Trees campaigns would cover merely 2% of the domestic footprint. Making the United States carbon-neutral solely through trees would necessitate planting 10 billion trees annually—about 30 trees per American every year. This exposes severe land and water constraints:

- Most elevated atmospheric $\text{CO}_2$ originates from burning subterranean fossil fuels, not merely from historic clear-cutting. - Sequestering fossil carbon into biomass requires establishing brand-new forests where trees never previously grew. - Acquiring the water and land rights to sustain 10 billion additional trees each year without devastating local ecosystems presents an immense, recurring logistical barrier.

[08:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=512s) Institutional Climate Denial and Scientific Records

Thunderf00t shifts from the logistical shortcomings of reforestation to what he considers the true core problem: widespread political denial of climate science. He questions the relevance of grassroots charity stunts when the leadership of the federal government actively rejects the consensus. Donald Trump is shown characterizing global warming as a money-making hoax and asserting that climate scientists have a political agenda. Thunderf00t counters that climate scientists measure rising temperatures rather than fabricating them.

The video highlights administrative actions, including the appointment of climate change skeptics to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—such as Scott Pruitt, who disputed human activity as the primary driver of warming before leaving the post amid ethics investigations—and the formal withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Accord. When figures in power cite a supposed "hiatus" in warming since 1998, they rely on a thoroughly debunked talking point. Drawing on historical surface temperature analysis from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), which tracks records back to 1880, Thunderf00t notes that over the course of his life since being born in 1972, only seven years failed to rank among the top ten hottest on record up to that point, demonstrating a persistent upward trajectory in global temperatures.

[12:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=723s) Record Temperatures, the "Pause," and Shifting Denialist Goalposts

Examining long-term temperature records, Thunderf00t traces the steady climb of modern global temperatures. Following periods where certain years ranked outside the top twenty, an entire decade passed where virtually every single year ranked among the top ten hottest on record. Anyone born after 1985 has literally never lived through a year that was not among the ten hottest on record. In spite of this empirical reality, high-profile figures—including officials at the EPA—continue to claim that global warming has been on a "hiatus" for decades or dismiss it outright as a hoax.

The absurdity becomes especially sharp when examining conservative commentators like Steven Crowder. Born in 1987, Crowder has lived his entire life through consecutive top-ten hottest years on record, yet he produced content declaring a complete halt to global warming. Crowder argued in a video: “By the way there was a complete and total dead stop to all global warming for over 15 years and rather than readjust their models current climate scientists employed by your tax dollars simply chalk it up to being the pause.” Thunderf00t points out the irony that Crowder released his "top myths of global warming debunked" video not only during the single hottest year on record, but during the hottest August ever measured. Crowder subsequently set that video to private, even as his mocking commentary against climate science remains active on social media. Thunderf00t predicts that deniers will simply continue shifting their arguments through the standard denialist stages—from claiming the earth is not warming, to conceding warming while arguing humans are not responsible, to asserting the consequences are negligible.

- 1985 marks the cutoff year; nobody born since has experienced a calendar year that failed to rank among the top ten hottest on record. - Steven Crowder, born in 1987, has spent every year of his life in a top-ten record year while claiming warming halted for over 15 years. - Denialist stages predictably progress from denying warming outright to denying human causation or minimizing its severity.

---

[14:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=887s) The Astronomical Scale of Earth's Energy Imbalance

Thunderf00t stresses that humanity faces an ecological hole of literal astronomical proportions, driven by nearly an entire century of global fossil-fuel consumption. When comparing mankind's entire technological footprint against the physical energy trapped by climate change, the numbers are sobering. The entire warming phenomenon stems from an excess absorption of solar energy amounting to a mere one part in a thousand (0.1%) of incoming solar radiation. While that tiny fraction sounds almost undetectable, its absolute scale dwarfs human industry.

All the energy generated and consumed by humanity combined accounts for only roughly one-tenth of that single part in a thousand of extra solar heat trapped by greenhouse gases. In total, all human power production represents only one part in 10,000 of the energy the Earth receives from the Sun. As Thunderf00t explains: “Global warming makes mankind entire power production seem like a quaint gesture.” This massive trapped energy exists because human activity drove atmospheric carbon dioxide from roughly 300 parts per million to 400 parts per million over the course of a century. While humanity enjoyed significant economic and industrial benefits from burning cheap fossil fuels, the resulting ecological hangover will persist for generations.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Comparison of Solar Energy, Trapped Heat, and Human Power accDescr: Visual hierarchy showing solar input versus trapped global warming energy and total human power output. subgraph Solar["Solar Energy Budget"] S["Total Solar Energy Received by Earth<br/>(10,000 parts)"] end subgraph Trapped["Greenhouse Trapping"] GW["Extra Trapped Heat from Climate Change<br/>(10 parts / 1 in 1,000)"] end subgraph Human["Human Energy Output"] HP["Total Power Produced & Consumed by Mankind<br/>(1 part / 1 in 10,000)"] end

S -->|"0.1% excess retained"| GW GW -->|"~10x larger than"| HP ```

- Trapped climate energy equals roughly one part in 1,000 (0.1%) of total incoming solar energy. - Humanity's entire global power generation is approximately one-tenth of that trapped heat (one part in 10,000 of incoming solar radiation). - Atmospheric $\text{CO}_2$ has risen from ~300 ppm to ~400 ppm after nearly a century of industrial fossil fuel combustion.

---

[16:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=995s) Forest Collapse in the Rockies and the Limits of Tree Planting

To demonstrate what rising temperatures are already doing to living forests, Thunderf00t details the devastation wrought by the pine beetle across the Rocky Mountains. Because regional winters are no longer cold enough to freeze and kill beetle populations, the pests have decimated pine forests. While Colorado has lost around 800 million trees to the infestation, Thunderf00t presents on-the-ground footage from the Wind River Range in Wyoming, where between 50% and 70% of the surrounding trees stand dead.

Because temperature correlates strictly with altitude, driving up the mountain reveals an abrupt dividing line: once reaching an elevation cold enough in winter to kill the beetles, the landscape shifts from complete forest death to healthy, living pine stands from one side of the road to the other. This dynamic makes simple tree-planting campaigns pointless in these zones: planting more pine trees merely supplies more food for the pine beetle to kill, while introducing alternative species would radically alter the native Rocky Mountain ecosystem. Despite visible ecological collapses of this scale, fewer than half of Americans believe they have personally witnessed any impacts of climate change.

- Pine beetles have killed roughly 800 million trees in Colorado alone due to milder winters failing to freeze beetle larvae. - In Wyoming's Wind River Range, approximately 50% to 70% of standing forest has been killed by the beetle infestation. - The boundary between dead forest and surviving timber occurs at a precise altitude threshold where winter temperatures drop low enough to kill the beetles.

---

[18:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=1094s) Geological Timescales, Practical Realism, and Carbon Research

Addressing the chemistry and carbon cycle behind initiatives like TeamTrees, Thunderf00t emphasizes that planting trees offers only a temporary holding pen for carbon rather than permanent removal. Trees sequester carbon dioxide only throughout their lifespan of roughly a century; once they die and decompose, that carbon rots and vents straight back into the atmosphere. The root cause is that civilization excavated megatons of hydrocarbons buried for millions of years and vented them into the air. True atmospheric recovery relies not on century-long biological cycles, but on geological processes operating over vast timescales.

Thunderf00t warns that addressing this crisis requires realism rather than emotional placebo campaigns: “I care that people understand the magnitude of the problem at hand a care that people don't think that they've done something awesome by planting a few million trees which frankly millions did thanks to youtube.” He urges viewers to share these facts with both climate skeptics and well-meaning supporters of tree campaigns alike. Looking toward technological interventions, he reveals that he is applying for roughly one million dollars in research funding from the European Research Council to study an alternative fuel concept designed to extract atmospheric $\text{CO}_2$ while simultaneously increasing Earth's albedo to cool the surface. He makes no promises of success, stating plainly that if he already knew it would work, he would not need grant money to investigate it. He closes by inviting viewers to subscribe and support his work on Patreon, offering "the gritty reality of the situation" over a comfortable delusion.

- Trees only store carbon for their lifespans (~100 years) before decomposition re-releases $\text{CO}_2$ into the atmosphere. - Permanent drawdown relies primarily on slow geological processes to absorb the millions of years' worth of extracted fossil carbon. - Thunderf00t is applying for approximately $1,000,000 from the European Research Council to investigate a dual-action fuel intended to sequester $\text{CO}_2$ and enhance Earth's reflectivity.

## Notable quotes > [14:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=887s) Global warming makes mankind entire power production seem like a quaint gesture. — Thunderf00t

> [02:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY&t=127s) just to offset merely the US carbon footprint you would need to plant 20 million trees twice per day every single day. — Thunderf00t

## Mentioned Team Trees, Arbor Day Foundation, MrBeast, Mark Rober, MKBHD, iJustine, Thunderf00t, Donald Trump, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt, Paris Climate Accord, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), Steven Crowder, Rocky Mountains, Wind River Range, European Research Council

## Video description you can support this channel directly through patreon: https://patreon.com/Thunderf00t

or at my amazon store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/thunderf00t

or my other channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUrdmVprSahXaPKqr04VfgQ

[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqht2bIQXIY)

中文简报

Thunderf00t表示：TeamTrees仅能抵消美国12小时的碳排放 种植2000万棵树在实际操作中对气候抵消微不足道，却让捐赠者在面对世纪尺度的化石排放时产生虚假的进展感。 Thunderf00t对爆火的Team Trees活动进行了量化批评，该活动旨在通过1美元捐款种植2000万棵树。他论证指出，仅抵消美国全年的碳排放就需要每天种植4000万棵树，这使得该活动在实际效果上微乎其微，并可能让行动主义者沉溺于虚假的成就感中。视频随后探讨了体制性的气候否定论、1880年以来的实测气温记录，以及被截留的太阳能相对于人类总电力产出的物理尺度。他重点指出了落基山脉受甲虫侵害破坏的森林以及生物碳固存的暂时性，认为这场危机需要冷静严肃的科学现实主义和技术研发，而非象征性的慈善姿态。 Team Trees活动种植2000万棵树的目标在面对美国碳排放时在数学上微不足道，抵消该排放需要每天种植两次2000万棵树。 (2:07) 仅靠生物质实现美国碳中和每年需要大约100亿棵树，这带来了无法逾越的土地和水资源限制。 (4:23) 全球温室气体截留的多余热量约等于入射太阳能的0.1%，这一数值大约是全人类全球总发电量的十倍。 (14:47) 变暖的冬季使松甲虫破坏了科罗拉多州的8亿棵树木以及怀俄明州风河山脉50%至70%的森林，导致局部重新植树适得其反。 (16:35)

Source quotes

[14:47] Thunderf00t: Global warming makes mankind entire power production seem like a quaint gesture. [2:07] Thunderf00t: just to offset merely the US carbon footprint you would need to plant 20 million trees twice per day every single day.

Original transcript

[0:00] then people just keep making fun of our [0:01] generation for retweet activism and not [0:03] actually doing something which is why we [0:10] created team trees org with the help of [0:11] the Arbor Day Foundation restoring our [0:16] forests is the most effective natural [0:18] solution to the climate crisis team [0:20] trees orgs mission of planting 20 [0:22] million new trees by 2020 where every [0:29] donation of $1 equals one tree you might [0:36] be asking yourself what would planting [0:38] 20 million new trees do for the planet [0:41] [Music] [0:46] let's take a look at just how huge an [0:49] impact each donation on team trees will [0:51] make you us and your favorite creators [0:53] included join forces to achieve [0:55] something incredible that's a great idea [0:58] if we can only all get together and do [1:01] something amazing we genuinely need all [1:04] the help we can get and honestly I've [1:06] done everything I can I got a bunch of [1:08] fans together and we planted thousands [1:09] of trees what if that achievement not [1:11] only immediately made our shared world [1:13] better for each of us but it also made [1:16] the world better for all of us I've [1:18] literally tried my best to do everything [1:20] I can and now it's your guys's turn you [1:22] guys have been spamming my comment [1:24] section and spamming my mentions on [1:25] Twitter telling you to do something and [1:27] now I want to see that same energy this [1:29] is your chance to make a difference for [1:31] every dollar you donate here on youtube [1:33] or at team trees org a tree will be [1:35] planted siddur donating a dollar or more [1:37] and do it right now because let's face [1:39] it later you'll forget you've already [1:41] forgotten the website it's team trees [1:43] org [1:43] please donate now don't push it off to [1:45] later you might forget this is our [1:47] chance to show the world we care team [1:49] trees org donate there or donate using [1:51] the donate button below the video team [1:53] trees and the goal is simple 20 million [1:56] trees by 2020 that is a huge opportunity [2:00] and internet content creators from all [2:02] over every genre of content we're all [2:05] working together to do this but we need [2:07] you now this ain't quite your regular [2:09] busted video because [2:10] we like quite Lord the people who [2:13] started this project so responsible [2:15] people like Mark Rober mkbhd [2:18] iJustine me and tons of other awesome [2:21] uncontroversial youtuber to sponsor the [2:24] planting of 20 million trees by the year [2:26] 2020 which is coming up in wait what but [2:30] that doesn't change the fact that even [2:32] if it works exactly as advertised [2:36] just how ineffectual this will be I mean [2:39] I'll just give you the numbers straight [2:40] up front just to offset merely the US [2:44] carbon footprint you would need to plant [2:47] 20 million trees twice per day every [2:52] single day that is a huge opportunity [2:56] and Internet content creators from all [2:58] over every genre of content we're all [3:00] working together to do this but we need [3:02] you doing it once changes nothing [3:06] in fact in reality team trees is [3:09] probably more counterproductive in that [3:11] you're not doing anything to convince [3:13] skeptic all simultaneously you're taking [3:16] would be activists and making them feel [3:18] happy like they've achieved something [3:20] because they were part of team trees [3:24] it's day number two and we brought a lot [3:26] more and sure there'll be a lot of [3:32] people in the comments down below saying [3:34] you know well at least they tried their [3:36] their heart was in the right place and [3:38] and what have you ever done and so forth [3:40] and I can see why you might think that [3:43] but the simple reality is that I care [3:46] about people understanding things and if [3:49] you understood this the only honest [3:52] sales pitch here would be we're gonna [3:54] make a gesture it's gonna be [3:56] operationally insignificant it can't [3:59] possibly hope to do anything to actually [4:02] counter global warming but at least it's [4:05] a gesture to highlight the order of [4:08] magnitude of the problem at hand but [4:11] that's not the sales pitch that comes [4:13] from team trees their sales pitches this [4:16] is awesome and amazing and all these [4:18] youtubers are going to come together and [4:20] they're gonna do something incredible so [4:23] it comes to the crunch [4:24] let's say that team trees does actually [4:26] raise their twenty million dollars what [4:28] does that equate to if you were to [4:30] spread that twenty million dollars over [4:32] that say but all the US taxpayers well [4:35] ballpark numbers they're about four [4:37] injured million Americans I'd say two [4:39] hundred million taxpayers so to raise [4:41] twenty million dollars would Rick or her [4:44] a tax increase of 10 cents per year or [4:49] for those who will look at in military [4:51] terms for the cost of one b-1 bomber you [4:55] could do team trees every year for 20 [4:59] years so to run team trees for a year [5:02] would cost about ten cents on your [5:05] annual tax bill well what is the average [5:08] annual tax bill in America it's about [5:11] ten thousand dollars so let's live [5:14] dangerously let's go for the one dollar [5:17] per year challenge [5:19] make sure your politicians understand [5:22] that you will only support them if they [5:24] support giving one dollar per year to [5:27] plant new trees this would instantly [5:30] raise two hundred million dollars that [5:34] would be like ten team trees just think [5:37] how amazing that would be planting two [5:41] hundred million trees this is our chance [5:44] to show the world we care team trees org [5:47] but even if you did that even if you [5:49] raised the two hundred million dollars [5:51] he's planting trees really the most [5:54] effective way to spend the money [5:56] seriously two hundred million trees per [5:59] year let's say each one suck up to full [6:02] height and wheeze about a ton by the end [6:04] of the year she won't it'll take about [6:07] forty years to do that but let's not [6:10] worry about that yet but it's okay let's [6:12] let's say half of the tree is water so [6:15] it's only sucked out of about half a ton [6:17] of carbon dioxide in the first year so [6:20] 200 million trees suck up about 100 [6:23] million tons of carbon dioxide cool so [6:26] you've just pulled one hundred million [6:29] tons of carbon dioxide 10 team trees out [6:34] of the atmosphere [6:35] how good is that well.all turn now [6:38] America puts out some five billion tons [6:42] of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels per [6:45] year ten team trees only gets you to [6:50] about 2 percent of merely America's [6:53] carbon dioxide footprint you want to [6:56] just make America neutral you have to [6:58] plant about 10 billion trees in America [7:02] every single year never mind [7:07] 20 million trees by the end of the year [7:09] to sponsor the planting of 20 million [7:11] trees by the year 2020 which is coming [7:14] up in wait what [7:16] you have to plant 20 million trees twice [7:20] per day every single day and this is [7:25] ignoring the fact that there really [7:26] aren't that many places where you can [7:28] plant 10 billion trees without [7:31] completely messing up the ecosystem I [7:34] mean even assuming you cut down a forest [7:36] to begin with and they're just growing [7:38] it back what you get a bear in mind is [7:39] most of the extra carbon dioxide in the [7:41] atmosphere didn't come from cutting down [7:44] trees it came from burning fossil fuel [7:48] check can't take it out of the [7:50] atmosphere without growing forests where [7:52] there were no forests before and [7:55] seriously just think about that for a [7:57] second the land and water rights to grow [8:00] 10 billion trees give or take 30 trees [8:04] per American per year [8:07] that's not a one-off you have to do that [8:10] every single year and the only reason I [8:15] bring it up is to put into perspective [8:16] what a one-off planting of 20 million [8:20] trees is worth that is a huge [8:23] opportunity and internet content [8:25] creators from all over every genre of [8:27] content we're all working together to do [8:29] this but we need you but really none of [8:32] that is your problem problem is there is [8:35] still people going around saying that [8:37] there is no such thing as climate change [8:40] but if you'll excuse me for being blunt [8:42] and addressing the elephant in the room [8:45] what the hell is the point of all [8:48] stuff like this when the President of [8:50] the United States is a global warming [8:53] denier all of this with the global [8:55] warming and that a lot of it's a hoax [8:57] it's a hoax I mean it's a money-making [8:59] industry okay what an impact that would [9:01] only make I'm not denying climate change [9:04] but it could very well go back you know [9:06] we're talking about all that's the [9:08] scientists who say it's worse than ever [9:12] you have to show me the scientists [9:14] because they have a very big political [9:16] agenda that's like I can't bring the [9:18] scientists also have a political as well [9:20] not exactly climate scientists think [9:24] that the planet is getting warmer [9:26] because they've measured it and one of [9:30] these first actions as president was to [9:32] appoint a head of the Environmental [9:35] Protection Agency who was also a climate [9:38] change denier human activity on the [9:41] climate is something very challenging to [9:42] do and there's tremendous disagreement [9:44] about that the degree of impact that so [9:47] no I would not agree that it's a primary [9:50] contributor to the to the global warming [9:52] that we see and then went on to withdraw [9:55] from the Paris climate Accords my solemn [9:58] duty to protect America and its citizens [10:01] the United States will withdraw from the [10:08] Paris climate Accord I mean this was the [10:11] head of the EPA in the Trump [10:14] administration before he got removed for [10:17] corruption saying this why are the [10:20] hottest temperatures in the last decade [10:23] essentially the hottest temperatures [10:24] that we've seen on record we didn't hey [10:31] yeah he uses the Utley debunked there's [10:34] been a climate change hiatus since 1998 [10:37] argument I mean this is the part that [10:40] he's actually talking about look I was [10:44] born about the last time man walked on [10:47] the moon [10:47] in the early 70s that means I've been [10:50] around for somewhat more than 45 years [10:53] and over all of that time there have [10:56] been only seven years in my lifetime [10:58] which has not been one Bahat his top ten [11:01] on record so this is data from NASA's [11:06] Goddard Institute for Space Studies they [11:08] do the surface average temperature [11:11] analysis and they've got data going back [11:15] the best part of a hundred years so if [11:18] we take a look at that data we see that [11:22] it goes back to about 1880 its best part [11:25] maybe 150 years and they have the [11:30] temperature plotted out from the [11:31] historical average so you can see there [11:34] from Wow we have the last the last [11:38] century has been a steady incline in [11:41] temperatures so a red little script that [11:44] tolls yeah of all the years in recorded [11:48] history you know the last hundred and [11:50] all where were your accurate data how [11:52] hot that year was rated in all of the [11:57] years whether inaccurate data so I was [11:59] born in 1972 which is the worst the [12:03] sixteenth hottest year on record then [12:06] there are a few years in this sort of [12:08] region here where it wasn't actually one [12:10] of the hottest top 20 on record then [12:13] there was a solid decade where it was [12:16] basically every single year was one of [12:18] the hottest top 10 on record and 1985 [12:22] was the last time that someone was born [12:25] where it wasn't one of the hottest top [12:28] 10 years on record and every single year [12:33] since then F anyone born after 1985 [12:38] hasn't been alive in a year where it [12:42] hasn't been one the hottest top ten [12:45] years on record and you still get people [12:48] like this EPA guy saying that you know [12:52] yeah but global warming he has been on [12:54] hiatus for 20 years or something it's [12:57] like what what oh you get people say the [13:02] dita hoax what an impact that would link [13:05] I'm not denying climate change but it [13:08] could very well go back you know we're [13:09] talking about all that [13:11] you think that's bad if you were born in [13:14] 1987 say like steven crowder here every [13:17] single year he's been alive has been one [13:21] of the hottest top ten years on record [13:25] oh yeah by the way they call that the [13:27] pause and by the way there was a [13:28] complete and total dead stop to all [13:30] global warming for over 15 years and [13:33] rather than readjust their models [13:35] current climate scientists employed by [13:37] your tax dollars simply chalk it up to [13:39] being the pause Hal he made a video [13:42] about the top myths of global warming [13:45] debunked not only in the hottest year on [13:48] record but in the hottest August in the [13:50] hottest year on record but praise be for [13:54] small mercies [13:55] it looks like steven crowder actually [13:57] said that video too private now even [14:00] though he's scornful mocking tones of [14:02] real science are still right up there on [14:05] Twitter and explain a little more to be [14:08] a science and I are at all - the current [14:10] climate change coalition you merely need [14:12] to be skeptical of any one of these four [14:15] things number one that the earth is [14:17] warming but you know what's gonna happen [14:18] he will simply move the goalposts so [14:21] okay maybe there is some global warming [14:24] but mankind's really not responsible for [14:27] it or you know it's just not that bad [14:31] you know the normal stages of global [14:34] warming denialism you know which is [14:37] scales of delusion that make the team [14:39] trees think you know we're gonna make an [14:41] awesome difference by planting a few [14:43] million trees seem sane and balanced the [14:47] principal problem is that we are [14:49] currently in a hole of literally [14:51] astronomical proportions as you might [14:55] expect it basically took the entire [14:57] population of the planet burning fossil [15:00] fuels for almost a century to make it so [15:04] how does the size of global warming [15:07] compared to the entire power of mankind [15:11] the entire of global warming is a mere [15:15] one part in a thousand extra absorbed [15:19] energy from the Sun which doesn't sound [15:21] so bad right I made one part in the [15:24] you could barely detect it that is until [15:27] you realize their soul crushing [15:30] dimensions of what merely one partner [15:34] thousand extra energy of this Sun [15:37] represents all of the power that mankind [15:40] consumes is about 1/10 of that one pine [15:45] a thousand extra energy that we're [15:47] getting from the Sun global warming [15:50] makes mankind entire power production [15:53] seem like a quaint gesture hell it [15:57] corresponds to merely one part in 10,000 [16:01] of the energy that we receive from the [16:04] Sun now the reason of course that we [16:06] don't radiate as much energy into space [16:08] as we used to his biggest we've [16:09] increased the carbon dioxide [16:10] concentration in the atmosphere from [16:12] about 300 parts per million to 400 parts [16:15] per million and bear in mind they took [16:17] the best part of a hundred years of the [16:20] entire of mankind to get there and we [16:24] got a lot of bang for the buck out of [16:26] burning that gas but the hangover from [16:29] this party is going to be the long [16:32] generations alarm in the meanwhile [16:35] what's climate change doing to existing [16:39] forests well there's a beetle called the [16:42] pine beetle that because of climate [16:43] change has been wiping out forests in [16:46] the Rocky Mountains I know because I've [16:49] seen the devastation first-hand not in [16:52] Colorado though where it's wiped out [16:54] some 800 million trees but in Wyoming [16:58] and squares up there I am in the wind [17:00] rivers look around [17:04] somewhere between half and 70% of the [17:09] trees here this place gets warmer [17:19] winters they used to and cut off the [17:22] Beatles [17:23] [Music] [17:24] however the training bed already [17:26] altitude related so as you go up hill [17:30] but you find is there comes a point [17:33] where it gets sufficiently cold in [17:36] winter to kill the beetles and you go [17:40] from the trees to living ones and it [17:43] really from one side of the road to the [17:45] other it changes like that now bear in [17:50] mind you can't simply plant more trees [17:52] here because if you plant more pine [17:54] trees the pine beetle will simply kill [17:57] those two maybe you can plant different [18:00] types of trees but now you're looking at [18:02] changing the entire ecosystem basically [18:05] the entire Rocky Mountains and even at [18:09] that less than half of Americans think [18:12] that they've experienced the effects of [18:14] global warming you know it took almost a [18:17] century of the concerted effort a [18:20] basically the entire planet living of [18:22] cheap energy to put the carbon dioxide [18:25] into the atmosphere in the first place [18:27] it's gonna take a comparable amount of [18:31] effort to get it out again in the short [18:34] term some of that will dissolve in the [18:36] oceans acidifying them but that's a [18:38] story for another day [18:39] planting trees only sequester's the [18:42] carbon till the trees die and have 100 [18:45] so years at that point the trees rot and [18:48] they release the carbon dioxide back [18:50] into the atmosphere that means that [18:52] you're only down to geological processes [18:55] to get the carbon dioxide out of the [18:58] atmosphere this is just a consequence of [19:00] taking megatons of oil that have been [19:03] stored underground for millions of years [19:06] and turning it into carbon dioxide and [19:08] releasing it into the atmosphere there's [19:11] nowhere for it to go like I say we had a [19:16] blast for the last century and there is [19:19] one hell of a hangover coming if not for [19:23] us then sure as hell for the next [19:25] generation and yeah America he's really [19:28] split on this split honestly down party [19:32] lines for me and greatly care about that [19:35] I care the [19:36] people understand this situation and [19:39] care that people understand the [19:41] magnitude of the problem at hand a care [19:45] that people don't think that they've [19:47] done something awesome by planting a few [19:49] million trees which frankly millions did [19:53] thanks to youtube so please share this [19:57] video both with your climate skeptic [20:00] friends and with your team tree friends [20:02] we only have one rock to live on and I [20:06] want people to be realistic about the [20:09] scale of climate change and for those [20:12] who want to know I'll hardly be asking [20:14] for about a million dollars from the [20:16] European Research Council next month for [20:18] research on a fuel that actually removes [20:21] carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while [20:23] simultaneously hopefully cooling the [20:26] earth by increasing its reflectivity if [20:30] you want me to tell you it'll work [20:31] you're looking in the wrong place I [20:34] wouldn't be asking for the money to do [20:37] the research if I knew it would work but [20:40] on paper it's got a lot going for and [20:43] help if you've really liked this video [20:45] and it gives you a new perspective on [20:48] global warming one that you've not seen [20:50] before and you want to see more like [20:52] this you can support this channel [20:54] directly through patreon oh yeah [20:57] and their notification buttons down [20:59] there if you don't want to miss out on [21:01] new uploads sure it won't plant any [21:04] trees but it will be a voice that gives [21:06] you the gritty reality of the situation [21:08] and sometimes that's worth more than the [21:12] comfortable delusion [21:13] [Music]