Can Trees Save the Earth? #botany #climatechange #ClimateAction #trees #forests

[image error]Trees! Planting trees has been a good thing to do for ages, and maybe it’s more important that ever.

Data finally exist to show that if the right species of trees are planted in the right soil types across the planet, the emerging forests could capture 205 gigatons of carbon dioxide in the next 40 to 100 years. That’s two thirds of all the CO2 humans have generated since the industrial revolution. “Forest restoration is by far our most powerful planetary solution today.” scientificamerican.com

There are details, of course. Always details, like the species and soil conditions can make trees better or worse soldiers in the fight against global warming. But a recent study by Tom Crowther, professor of global ecosystem ecology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, produced the jaw-dropping numbers quoted above. And Crowther’s study didn’t assume agriculture would be wiped off the face of the planet – we humans can co-exist with all these new trees.

In America, there are many areas where forests are growing back.

The United States went through a period of intense deforestation between 1600 and 1900, but the size of its forest areas has been relatively stable for the last hundred years… between 1990 and 2010, the nation added 7,687,000 hectares (18,995,000 acres) of forested land. The trend in reforesting areas has been driven by organizations such as the U.S. Forest Service and the Arbor Day Foundation. education.seattlepi.com

I’ve also noticed in areas I’ve lived that slopes once cut for firewood are now blanketed in trees. And that’s better than a blanket of carbon dioxide.