system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
You say this but hear me out:

I'm a tree surgeon so see a lot of trees every day. On numerous occasions I've been in old people's gardens cutting their trees and seen rope swings from when their children were kids or even when they themselves were kids and had a rope swing. The rope swing is now 4-5 feet higher than they were when they were originally installed. The actual tree might be 30 feet higher but it seems given time, all of the branches will slowly creep up too.  

I know you might argue that the branch may have grown (bent) upwards over time or that the thickness of the branch has increased thus pulling more rope through the knot but having spoken to the owner and seen it myself, that can't be all that's happening here.
gpt
If a branch increases in diameter by just 1 foot, the circumference increases by 3.14 feet. Could we surmise that a major branch has increased in diameter by 1.5 feet or so over a couple decades (thus requiring 4-5 more feet of rope to encircle it)?