Guardian - Planting
billions of trees across the world is by far the biggest and cheapest
way to tackle the climate crisis, according to scientists, who have made
the first calculation of how many more trees could be planted without
encroaching on crop land or urban areas.
As
trees grow, they absorb and store the carbon dioxide emissions that are
driving global heating. New research estimates that a worldwide
planting programme could remove two-thirds of all the emissions that
have been pumped into the atmosphere by human activities, a figure the
scientists describe as “mind-blowing”.
The
analysis found there are 1.7bn hectares of treeless land on which 1.2tn
native tree saplings would naturally grow. That area is about 11% of
all land and equivalent to the size of the US and China combined.
Tropical areas could have 100% tree cover, while others would be more
sparsely covered, meaning that on average about half the area would be
under tree canopy.
1 comment:
One thing not said here is that forests are better at carbon capture then tree plantations are. To accomplish reforestation as opposed to making tree plantations, requires a mix of trees with nitrogen fixers as pioneers and planting additional trees as the soil improves. As the trees establish, additional planting of shrubs, herbs, and other lower growing plants will complete the forest.
Using many trees that produce food, fuel, or building materials, improves the lives and economy of the people living near the restored forests. Reforestation aids water infiltration of the soil which recharges aquifers and fills wells. Add to that holistic managed grazing which restores grasslands making them a huge carbon sink, and that would lower carbon even further. There is a lot people can do about carbon, but until they know the possibilities that use nature's own systems can offer, humans will keep chasing the rainbows and unicorns of a technological fix. There are places for technological fixes, but they should be used as an aid to reforestation and grassland restoration, not the main hope of carbon capture.
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