Earth’s climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization. A new study says planting one trillion more trees around the world would be the cheapest and most effective way to fight global warming.
Scientists came to this figure, by calculating how many more trees could be planted without encroaching on agricultural land or urban areas to help save the world from climate change. Researchers found that our Earth has about 3.5 million square miles (9 million square kilometers) to spare for trees.
The Swiss scientists made their forecasts and came up with this predictive model using a data-set of nearly 80,000 forests and combining that with Google Earth Engine. The report said Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil and China have the most room for new trees.
Since trees absorb carbon dioxide, these newly planted trees could cut a significant portion of these heat-trapping emissions from the atmosphere.
Study senior author, Thomas Crowther, said, “It will take decades for new forests to mature and achieve this potential,”
“It is vitally important that we protect the forests that exist today, pursue other climate solutions and continue to phase out fossil fuels from our economies in order to avoid dangerous climate change.”
