If a tree stands in a forest...

    will Yale count it accurately?

A new Yale-led study estimates that there are more than 3 trillion trees on Earth, about seven and a half times more than some previous estimates. 

Is that the good news, or the bad news?

But the total number of trees has plummeted by roughly 46% since the start of human civilization, the study estimates.

Using a combination of satellite imagery, forest inventories, and supercomputer technologies, the international team of researchers was able to map tree populations worldwide at the square-kilometer level.

Since we didn't have satellite imagery, forest inventories and supercomputer technologies at the start of human civilization, how do they know that? The same guesstimates that were off sevenfold?

Anyway, since there are now over 400 trees for every human on earth, didn't we have to cut some down to make room for the people? And make homes, pianos and baseball bats for them to enjoy.