Trees Get Most of Their Mass from the Air, Not the Soil

Have you ever looked at a massive oak tree and wondered where all that wood came from?

Through a process called photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through tiny pores in their leaves known as stomata.

Using the energy from sunlight, they convert this carbon, along with hydrogen from water, into glucose.

This glucose is then transformed into cellulose and lignin—the tough fibers that make up the tree's trunk and branches.

This discovery, sparked by Jan Baptista van Helmont’s 17th-century experiment, proves that plants are masters of capturing carbon.

Because they build their physical structure by stripping CO2 from our environment, trees act as critical carbon sinks, playing an essential role in regulating the planet's climate and purifying the air we breathe.