Restoring forests could capture two-thirds of the carbon humans have added to the atmosphere

Reforestation could be a powerful tool against climate change, according to a new study. Pictured, Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, October 2013.

The restoration of the world’s lost forests could eliminate two-thirds of all the carbon that heats the planet in the atmosphere due to human activity, according to a new study.

It is already well known by all that, since the industrial revolution, humans have added around 300 billion tons of extra carbon to the atmosphere, mainly through the burning of fossil fuels, which is undoubtedly heating the planet at dangerous levels. Even so, it is necessary to emphasize that trees naturally remove carbon from the atmosphere, storing it above and below ground.

Now, a new study emerges which provides truly relevant information. It was carried out by researchers from the Swiss university ETH Zurich and published Thursday in the journal Science, has calculated that the restoration of degraded forests worldwide could capture around 205 billion tons of carbon in total. Global carbon emissions are currently around 10 billion tons per year.

Enough adequate land to increase forests

It is necessary to clarify that the researchers in charge of this report, identified ecosystems around the world that would naturally support a certain level of tree cover, but that has been “degraded”, deforested for wood, for example, or converted into farmland that Since then they have been abandoned. Likewise, they excluded the areas that are currently used as urban or agricultural lands, or that would naturally be grasslands or wetlands because these ecosystems can be valuable carbon deposits, as well as to support biodiversity.

However, he has concluded that there is enough adequate land to increase the world’s forests by approximately one third. This would mean that the planet would receive more than a billion additional trees and 900 million hectares of additional treetops, an area the size of the United States.

They certainly claim that their data shows that global tree restoration is the most effective way to deal with climate change.

The study found that most of the land suitable for restoring forest trees are in six countries: Russia (151 million hectares), USA. UU. (103 million hectares), Canada (78 million), Australia (58 million), Brazil (50 million) and China (40 million).

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Source: Mark Tutton | CNN