This summer was the hottest on record in the Northern Hemisphere—and humans weren’t the only ones complaining. Scientists at Harvard University recently launched the Witness Tree Social Media Project, which allows a 100-year-old red oak tree in Petersham, Massachusetts, to tweet about what it’s experiencing. Sensors collect data such as temperature, leaf color, and amount of growth. A computer then sorts through the data and decides which prewritten message will be sent out (see samples above). Since the Twitter account launched this summer, it has gained more than 7,000 followers, exceeding the team’s goals. Tim Rademacher, who came up with the idea, says trees are ideal for telling the story of climate change because they live longer than humans and can’t run away from weather. “We’re trying to create something personal, immediate, but unbiased,” he says. “It’s just the data talking for itself. . . . We can give the tree a voice.”