Let the planet save itself

Scientists,  Jane Goodall among them, have been criticized for anthropomorphizing animals. Forester and best-selling author Peter Wohlleben often draws criticism for anthropomorphizing trees.

Consider some of the phrases found in his 2019 book The Secret Network of Nature:

• "Trees agree among themselves over long distances."

• "Thirsty trees send out a warning over the wood wide web and advise all others."

• Beeches "love their families."

• Because of climate change, "trees have to escape north."

Wohlleben, author of the incredible The Hidden Life of Trees, defends his language choices by asking, "But can a language stripped of emotion even be called a human language?" Read some scientific papers and you may be inclined to agree with him. Besides, he writes for the general public, not for scientists, and what he describes, however one says it, is what actually happens.

Trees really do somehow communicate with other trees, sometimes over hundreds of miles. Trees lacking sufficient water do somehow signal to other trees to moderate their water intake. Beeches, like some other trees, do support their own offspring by sending out roots to nourish them. Trees do migrate, as a species, to places where conditions are better, even though this may take centuries.

Wohlleben's book does not entirely focus on trees, although he keeps coming back to them. Ants raise aphids the way farmers raise cattle, he says. In a chapter called "Creatures in Your Coffee," he writes about just that — minuscule creatures that live in water pipes and eventually wind up in your food and beverages.

Mostly his topic is how all nature fits together and how human beings sometimes help, but more often hurt, the natural process. He explains why, for example, that the more trees left along bodies of water, the more fish there are likely to be in that water. Feeding deer during a harsh winter can actually cause more deer to starve to death.

Perhaps the most surprising thing he has to say he saves for the end: "The positive message from all this is that not only can we win back the original forests, but doing that could also steer the climate in the right direction. And to achieve this we don't even need to do anything. Just the opposite, in fact. We need to leave things alone — on as large a scale as possible."

Save the planet by doing nothing? What a concept.