Tons of trees are being cut down constantly and this is something that we have known to be a serious issue for quite some time now. That being said, in recent times some serious addresses are coming up and this is one that cannot be ignored.
The Crowther Lab has managed to publish a study in the journal Science that blows everything we think we know out of the water, sure we’ve been told time and time again that it’s ‘too late’ to save the world but that just doesn’t seem to be true, if we’re willing to put in the hard work now we can save the future. This study covers how big of a difference could be made if trees were planted in the right numbers and right places. It has been present online since July fifth and is titled ‘The Global Tree Restoration Potential.”
According to this study, we could potentially grow trees across the globe that would equal up to the size of the United States itself. This would provide us with more oxygen and store about 205 billion tonnes of carbon that has been released because of human activity. What we would be gaining overall would drastically change the way in which we live.
The abstract of this study goes as follows:
The restoration of trees remains among the most effective strategies for climate change mitigation. We mapped the global potential tree coverage to show that 4.4 billion hectares of canopy cover could exist under the current climate. Excluding existing trees and agricultural and urban areas, we found that there is room for an extra 0.9 billion hectares of canopy cover, which could store 205 gigatonnes of carbon in areas that would naturally support woodlands and forests. This highlights global tree restoration as our most effective climate change solution to date. However, climate change will alter this potential tree coverage. We estimate that if we cannot deviate from the current trajectory, the global potential canopy cover may shrink by ~223 million hectares by 2050, with the vast majority of losses occurring in the tropics. Our results highlight the opportunity of climate change mitigation through global tree restoration but also the urgent need for action.
Crowther Lab went so far as to create a tool on their website that allows us all to look at different areas across the world and figure out how many trees could grow there as well as how much carbon could be stored within those trees if they were to be planted and grown out. You can opt for a registered experience for a more personalized look or check things out with guest access by clicking here. While this is merely the alpha version, updates are on the way.
What do you think about all of this? I for one am blown away. Did you check their tool out for yourself? I for one think that the more trees this hopefully brings about the better. After all, the greener this world becomes the safer it is for each and every one of us as well as our children of the future. To learn more on this topic please feel free to check out the video below.