"To Save the Planet, Don’t Plant Trees"
brianlux
Posts: 42,042
That's what New York Times Op-Ed Contributor Nadine Unger would have you believe and you can read the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/20/opinion/to-save-the-planet-dont-plant-trees.html
If you're thinking this sounds a bit crazy well... maybe crazy isn't the right word. Misinformed is more like it. Why someone would push this hypothesis is another question.
Here's a good rebuttal from the science community to Unger's theory :
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=17668
... and it is summarized thus:
However, I don’t think that [Unger's] conclusions are supported by the science. The author connects unrelated issues about trees, conflates what we know about trees from different latitudes, and fails to convey the main point: tropical trees keep climate cool locally, help keep rainfall rates high, and have innumerable non-climate benefits including maintaining habitat and supporting biodiversity.
Bottom Line
So should we try to slow global warming by planting trees? On a 20-40 year time scale, there is no question that planting trees will transfer carbon from the atmosphere into the trees, slowing the growth of CO2 in the atmosphere and thereby slowing global warming. On a 100-year time scale, I would say that we cannot plant our way out of the problem. However, we know that tropical forests keep carbon out of the atmosphere, keep the land surface cool, and play a critical role in providing habitat, maintaining biodiversity, and other good stuff for people. These things are hugely important and it is a no-brainer that we need to fight to keep tropical forests as intact as possible. Maintaining tropical forest does lots of great things, and also helps to slow global warming. But we probably shouldn’t expect to combat global warming in the long term by planting trees in other latitudes.
It might not totally save the planet, but we should do everything we can to maintain the tropical forest.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/20/opinion/to-save-the-planet-dont-plant-trees.html
If you're thinking this sounds a bit crazy well... maybe crazy isn't the right word. Misinformed is more like it. Why someone would push this hypothesis is another question.
Here's a good rebuttal from the science community to Unger's theory :
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=17668
... and it is summarized thus:
However, I don’t think that [Unger's] conclusions are supported by the science. The author connects unrelated issues about trees, conflates what we know about trees from different latitudes, and fails to convey the main point: tropical trees keep climate cool locally, help keep rainfall rates high, and have innumerable non-climate benefits including maintaining habitat and supporting biodiversity.
Bottom Line
So should we try to slow global warming by planting trees? On a 20-40 year time scale, there is no question that planting trees will transfer carbon from the atmosphere into the trees, slowing the growth of CO2 in the atmosphere and thereby slowing global warming. On a 100-year time scale, I would say that we cannot plant our way out of the problem. However, we know that tropical forests keep carbon out of the atmosphere, keep the land surface cool, and play a critical role in providing habitat, maintaining biodiversity, and other good stuff for people. These things are hugely important and it is a no-brainer that we need to fight to keep tropical forests as intact as possible. Maintaining tropical forest does lots of great things, and also helps to slow global warming. But we probably shouldn’t expect to combat global warming in the long term by planting trees in other latitudes.
It might not totally save the planet, but we should do everything we can to maintain the tropical forest.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
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