Best way to fight climate change? Plant a trillion trees

Young Macedonians plant seedling on the Vodno mountain near the capitol Skopje, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. A new study estimates that planting a trillion new trees could suck up nearly 750 billion tonnes of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. (Georgi Licovski/EPA)

It is already well known that a climate change is defined as the variation in the state of the climate system, formed by the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the lithosphere and the biosphere, which lasts for sufficiently long periods of time until reaching a new equilibrium. It can affect both mean meteorological values as well as their variability and extremes.

Climate changes have existed since the beginning of Earth’s history, have been gradual or abrupt and have been due to various causes, such as those related to changes in orbital parameters, variations in solar radiation, continental drift, periods of intense volcanism, biotic processes or meteorite impacts. Current climate change is anthropogenic and is mainly related to the intensification of the greenhouse effect due to industrial emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.

There is no doubt that climate change is a global challenge that has no borders and that to combat it requires coordinated work by all countries.

An effective and economical solution

According to a new study, the most effective way to combat global warming is to plant many trees, one trillion of them, maybe more. Likewise, it has been said that this is, by far, thousands of times, the cheapest solution for climate change.

Similarly, it has been pointed out that even with existing cities and croplands, there is enough space for the new trees to cover nine million square kilometers, roughly the size of the United States.

It is important to mention that this study has calculated that over the decades, these new trees could absorb from the atmosphere almost 750 billion tons of carbon dioxide that trap heat, approximately the carbon pollution that humans have thrown into the atmosphere. the last 25 years.

In this way, much of that benefit will come quickly because trees remove more carbon from the air when they are younger, the study authors said. The potential to eliminate the greatest amount of carbon is found in the tropics.

Even so, it has been emphasized that planting trees is not a substitute for weaning the world from the burning of oil, coal and gas, the main cause of global warming.

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Source: CBC News