Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis

Damian Carrington, Environment editor

2019-07-04

The Guardian

Keywords: Tree planting, Climate crisis, Carbon capture, Reforestation, Greenhouse gas emissions, Artificial intelligence, Satellite imagery

"Planting billions of trees across the world is one of the biggest and cheapest ways of taking CO2 out of the atmosphere to tackle the climate crisis"

A study led by Prof. Tom Crowther at ETH Zürich has found that planting a trillion trees could remove nearly one-third of human-generated carbon emissions from the atmosphere. The research shows that this could be achieved without encroaching on crop land or urban areas, covering 1.7 billion hectares of treeless land with 1.2 trillion native tree saplings. The study emphasizes that while tree planting is a significant solution, it must be coupled with reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and deforestation to zero. The research is based on extensive data collection and analysis, including satellite images and artificial intelligence, to map the global potential for tree growth. The study estimates that restoring 1 trillion trees could cost $300 billion, making it a cost-effective climate solution. The research also raises concerns about the need to reduce meat and dairy consumption to free up land for reforestation.

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Tags: Environmental science, Climate action, Sustainable practices, Forestry, Global warming, Carbon footprint, Environmental policy, Conservation efforts