Tree Planting Impact Calculator

A newly planted tree doesn't absorb CO2 at full capacity right away -- it grows into that capacity over time as its canopy and root system develop. This calculator models that ramp-up directly: each tree's CO2 absorption scales linearly from nothing in year one up to its full mature rate by year ten, then holds steady at that mature rate for every year beyond. The mature per-tree annual absorption rate depends on tree type, since deciduous, conifer, and tropical species differ in typical growth rate and biomass accumulation. Summing that maturity-adjusted absorption across every tree and every year in your chosen time period gives total CO2 absorbed.

Oxygen production is derived directly from that CO2 figure using photosynthesis stoichiometry -- fixing one mole of CO2 releases one mole of O2, which by mass works out to roughly 0.727 lbs of O2 per lb of CO2 absorbed -- rather than from a second, independently sourced oxygen rate that could disagree with the CO2 estimate. That keeps the two figures physically consistent with each other and means oxygen production ramps with tree maturity exactly the same way CO2 absorption does. To make the CO2 figure more concrete, the calculator also converts it into two familiar equivalents: roughly how many cars' worth of annual emissions that CO2 offsets, and roughly how many miles of typical car driving it corresponds to. These are broad estimates built from commonly cited average absorption and emissions figures, not measurements of your specific trees or climate -- actual sequestration varies with species, soil, climate, spacing, and tree health.