樹木絕大部分的質量來自空氣，而非土壤
Trees Get Most of Their Mass from the Air, Not the Soil
你是否曾看著一棵巨大的橡樹，並好奇這些木頭究竟是從哪裡來的？
Have you ever looked at a massive oak tree and wondered where all that wood came from?
透過光合作用，樹木利用葉片上稱為氣孔的小孔，從大氣中吸收二氧化碳。
Through a process called photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through tiny pores in their leaves known as stomata.
利用陽光提供的能量，它們將這些碳，以及來自水分的氫結合，轉化為葡萄糖。
Using the energy from sunlight, they convert this carbon, along with hydrogen from water, into glucose.
接著，葡萄糖會轉變為纖維素與木質素——這些構成樹幹與樹枝的堅韌纖維。
This glucose is then transformed into cellulose and lignin—the tough fibers that make up the tree's trunk and branches.
這項由楊·巴普蒂斯塔·范·海爾蒙在17世紀進行的實驗所引發的發現，證明了植物是捕捉碳的大師。
This discovery, sparked by Jan Baptista van Helmont’s 17th-century experiment, proves that plants are masters of capturing carbon.
由於它們透過從環境中剝除二氧化碳來構建自身的實體結構，樹木成為了關鍵的碳匯，在調節地球氣候與淨化我們呼吸的空氣方面，扮演著不可或缺的角色。
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.
