巨型红杉的小萌芽，加利福尼亚州 A young giant sequoia sprouting out of an old log in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California (© Hutch Axilrod/Getty Images)

巨型红杉的小萌芽，加利福尼亚州 A young giant sequoia sprouting out of an old log in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California (© Hutch Axilrod/Getty Images)

潜力惊人的萌芽 The sprout with amazing potential

Arbor Day

With a little love and support, this little sprout at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in California has a big future ahead of it. It has the potential to one day be the tallest tree on the planet, or at least close to it. Its 'big brother,' Hyperion, currently holds the record at 380 feet. They're giant sequoias, aka giant redwood trees. They often grow upwards of 300 feet tall and can live for thousands of years. They're heroes of nature, affecting the weather and climate, while housing and protecting other plants and animals. But all of this little sprout's potential is at risk because the giant sequoia is an endangered species. Fewer than 80,000 of them remain. That's why today is an important day for it and all trees.

That's right, today is Arbor Day, the day where we stop a moment to think about the trees (and hopefully even plant a few). The first American Arbor Day occurred 150 years ago when an estimated one million trees were planted in Nebraska in 1872. This year, America's Arbor Day Foundation is celebrating its 50th year of dedication to tree planting. They've planted over 350 million of them over the years, but the mission never ends. Trees are vital to the health of our planet, which means they're important for our own health as well. Why not do a little to make the future a better place and take a moment to nurture or plant a new tree today?

植树节

有了一点爱和支持，加利福尼亚州大草原溪红杉州立公园的这棵小豆芽就有了一个广阔的未来。它有可能有一天成为地球上最高的树，或者至少离它很近。它的“老大哥”海伯龙目前保持着380英尺的纪录。它们是巨大的红杉，又名巨大的红杉。它们通常能长到300英尺高，可以存活数千年。他们是大自然的英雄，影响天气和气候，同时居住和保护其他动植物。但由于巨型红杉是一种濒危物种，这种小豆芽的所有潜力都面临风险。剩下的不到8万人。这就是为什么今天对它和所有树木来说都是重要的一天。

没错，今天是植树节，这一天我们会停下来想一想那些树（希望还能种一些）。美国第一个植树节发生在150年前，1872年内布拉斯加州种植了大约100万棵树。今年，美国植树节基金会将庆祝植树50周年。多年来，他们已经种植了超过3.5亿株，但任务从未结束。树木对我们星球的健康至关重要，这意味着它们对我们自身的健康也很重要。为什么不做一点事情，让未来变得更好，今天花点时间培育或种植一棵新树呢？