The loneliest tree in the world sits on Campbell Island, the southernmost island in New Zealand territory. It's a Sitka spruce, it's the only tree on the whole island, and its nearest neighbors are on the Auckland Islands, approximately 160 miles away. While there are islands that are much more remote than Campbell Island, they either have no trees or at least two trees, so none of them have a single tree as lonely as this one.

It sits at the edge of Garden Cove, an offshoot of Perseverance Bay, which feels quite aptly name because this tree has persevered! It was planted in 1907 and has survived in a harsh environment which includes over 300 days of rain per year, and over 100 days per year where the wind gusts at over 60 mph!

While our guides pointed it out because of how remote it is, some internet research pointed out another interesting thing about the tree: a nature.com article discusses how this tree, as well as other shrubs on the island, was used to collect data on atmospheric radiocarbon from nuclear bomb tests during the 1950s and 60s. By testing the amount of carbon-14 and using the rings of the tree for dating purposes, scientists could calculate the amount of carbon-14 in the atmosphere each year, and they determined that the peak occurred in the last quarter of 1965. And because this tree was located so far from where the bulk of the nuclear bomb tests were occurring, this was evidence that the totality of these tests had a global atmospheric effect.

There was previously an even lonelier tree, which was located in the Saharan Desert; however, it was knocked down by a drunk driver in 1973. How someone managed to hit the only tree, I will never know. But there you go.

Sample Problems

1. Use Google Maps to attempt to find find the most remote island in the world (the single island whose nearest neighbor is farthest away).

2. Use Google Maps to attempt to find the most remote inhabited island in the world (the single inhabited island whose nearest neighbor is farthest away).

3. Use Google Maps to attempt to find the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world (the group of islands whose nearest separate neighbor is farthest away).

4. Research the most remote places on Earth to check your answers and learn about other remote places.