There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way
A 2015 study using satellite imagery and ground surveys estimated approximately 3.04 trillion trees on Earth — about 400 trees per person alive. The Milky Way contains an estimated 100–400 billion stars. This means there are roughly 7–30 times more trees on Earth than stars in our galaxy. The same study found that humans have cut down approximately 46% of all trees since the start of civilisation — the original estimate before human agriculture was around 5.6 trillion trees.
The Milky Way's stars feel uncountably vast — a symbol of cosmic scale beyond human comprehension. Finding that there are more trees in your world than stars in your galaxy makes both numbers feel more real and makes the trees feel more cosmically significant.
“There are ~3 trillion trees on Earth — roughly 7–30× more trees than stars in the Milky Way. Humans have cut down 46% of all trees since civilisation began. 🌳⭐ #OddlyHuman”