The severity of climate change is growing every day and, with it, our need to combat this dangerous transformation. Climate change is occurring because humans create a massive amount of CO2 emissions. CO2 is difficult to remove from the air, but luckily nature has its own natural CO2 convertor: trees. Because trees naturally convert CO2, many people hope that planting trees could help reverse climate change, but how big is this change & will it actually happen?
A recent study published in The American Association for the Advancement of Science sought to understand whether tree growth would have much of an impact on atmospheric CO2 levels. The research team, led by Jean-Francois Bastin of ETH-Zurich in Switzerland, found the Earth’s ecosystem could support about 2.2 billion acres of forest (25% more forest than the current amount). With 25% more forest, we could negate 20 years of human-produced carbon emissions at the same rate that they’re being produced (aka 50% of all carbon emitted by humans since 1960).
These percentages look intriguing. Unfortunately, the likelihood of forest restoration is slim. Planting enough trees to reach the 25% increase could take 1 to 2 thousand years, a time we do not have. Currently, Earth’s forests and soil absorb about 30% of carbon emissions, particularly during productive seasons. Earth loses about 18 million acres of land each year. The University of Michigan estimates 90% of indigenous forests have been removed since 1600. Restoration would be a major benefit, but could also be a bit of a red herring due to the amount of forests already lost.
Trees could help erase carbon emissions for a few years, but would not eliminate climate change. Other components, mostly time and land, would drastically reduce the likelihood of forest restoration. Restoration of more trees is an alternative when debating how to battle climate change, but, no matter what, multiple tools must be utilized to truly eliminate the effects of climate change.
Brianna G
The Carbon Newsprint
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