An artificial tree has to be used for over 10 years to potentially be better than getting a real tree every year. If you keep your artificial tree that long, then great! Most people toss the artificial tree and buy a new one before it gets to that point. And even then, it’s still going to make it to a landfill eventually. From the article I linked above: “In fact, you would have to keep your fake Christmas tree for at least 10 years for it to have the same carbon impact as using a real tree each year — and that isn’t considering the environmental damage artificial trees cause as they slowly break down in a landfill. And let’s be real: the likelihood of them lasting 10 years before breaking or getting thrown out is pretty low.”
Yes, they can, and they frequently do. You’ll notice with Sunday strips of pretty much every comic that top line is not crucial to the storyline of the day’s strip because they know that some papers will cut that part off.
Because cartoonists like to take vacations every so often?