Tree Planting and Negative Emissions
Contributor: Jackie Vandermel
Benefits of Trees Smart Trees Pacific
However, the current state of tree protection is not optimal in certain regions. There are currently more than three trillion trees on earth, yet 3.5 to 7 billion are cut down every year. This is a significant amount that adds up quickly, as the amount of trees are not always compensated for. In fact, a study in Nature revealed that 46% of trees had already been cleared from the Earth. Places such as the Amazon Rainforest are in need of these trees. The Amazon Rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, spanning 2.124 million square miles. It is also home to 10 percent of all animals, the most to live in one geographical region. Unfortunately, the Amazon Rainforest is also the biggest deforestation front. With this current title, the World Wide Fund for Nature predicts that by 2030, more than a quarter of the Amazon will not have trees. Overall, the forests in the tropics need to be protected not only because they provide a home to many animals but because they are frequently covered by clouds, meaning less sunlight is reflected against Earth’s surface and the planet can cool instead of absorbing more heat that contributes to global warming.
Tropical Tree Cover Loss World Resources Institute
Trees, especially their contribution to negative emission, play a crucial role in alleviating the devastating impact of climate change. Negative emission refers to the fact that the amount of carbon in the atmosphere will be reduced because the carbon is captured by a source and stored elsewhere. When trees are planted and begin to grow, they start absorbing carbon dioxide emissions, which they then store and carry out photosynthesis with. Researchers at University College London, University of Oxford, and ETH Zurich found that if people work together worldwide to plant trees, two-thirds of the total carbon emissions (~three hundred tons) put into the atmosphere due to human activity can be removed. One tree can mature and consume 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year to allow a human to breathe for two years. Professor Tom Crowther from ETH Zurich conducted 49 experiments and saw how a 1°C rise in global temperature would cause microorganisms to release about 55 billion tons of soil carbon by 2050. The detrimental aftermath is preventable because while carbon is present with warming soils, trees could absorb them when growing.
About 11% of the total land on earth, the size of the United States and China combined, would need to be filled with trees to reach the goal of removing two-thirds of all carbon emissions in our atmosphere. The removal would prevent the rise of temperature to reach 1.5°C, the temperature at which polar bears would become extinct and there would be massive floods and water shortages. This amount of trees to plant is completely feasible. For example, places like abandoned buildings and rooftops can be utilized as spaces for tree planting. In 2016, Liliana Jaramillo Pazmiño, one of the six Young Champions of the Earth, proposed the planting of trees on rooftops throughout Quito, Ecuador after seeing how rooftops can be wasted space or leftover land. She also went further to conduct a study with the Office for Environmental Programs and University of Melbourne and find out that 26 of Ecuador’s native species would be suitable for the green roofs. The concept of green roof has also been implemented in other places around the world. In New York City, many consult Bob Redman, the owner of Urban Forestry and Tree Care in Manhattan, when they are interested in planting trees on their roofs. Redman stated in an interview that green roofs bring many benefits, but one must review their building’s policy before implementing them. The weight of the trees is another factor to take into account, as well as whether there is an available outdoor water supply. One green roof garden in New York City is located on an 82-story building at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 57th Street.
Moreover, new inventions are being implemented to help plant more trees. Lauren Fletcher, an ex-NASA engineer, founded BioCarbon Engineering to help with the degrading landscape in Myanmar. Her team developed drones to plant trees, which is cheaper and faster than traditional tree planting. The drones are programmed to shoot out pre-germinated seed pods into the ground. Two people are able to control ten devices, and each one of the devices is able to plant about 40,000 trees per day. The drones were put into use in September 2019 to replant mangrove saplings. Seven months later, some of the saplings had grown to 20 inches tall. From around 2012 to 2019, they planted more than six million trees. With the new drones, they were able to plant about four million more trees by 2020. With the success, BioCarbon Engineering plans to help more degrading landscapes around the world.
Deforestation has already undermined the ecosystem in countries like Canada, Brazil, and China. Here in the US, the Appalachia has lost 83% of its habitats over the years. Restoring more trees in these countries would make a real impact. The National Forest Foundation is currently working to plant 50 million trees throughout national forests of the United States. One native tree is planted in a national forest with every one dollar donation towards the foundation. In response to the wild fire that took place in Australia in 2019-2020 where 46 million acres of forest were burned, the nonprofit organization One Tree Planted is accepting donations, one dollar plants one tree, to help restore these forests.
One Trillion Trees by 2050 Infographic Trillion Trees Organization
Offsetting CO2 Emissions the European Commission
Planting trees is also an economically viable solution to combat the climate crisis. Planting one tree can cost as little as 10 cents and be done in 15 seconds. Other solutions such as developing solar panels, in comparison, are less accessible to many due to the burdening cost to make, market, and install, especially those living in vulnerable communities. On the other hand, trees can bloom beautiful flowers and elicit a sense of protection. Who doesn’t like to hug trees?
Fortunately, many have already spearheaded the growing movement of tree planting. In 2007, Kenyan political activist Wangari Maathai founded the Billion Trees Campaign, which is joined by 193 countries. Since then, fifteen billion have been planted, and Maathai has recently upgraded the declaration to planting one trillion trees by 2050. BirdLife International, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have aided her to found another organization Trillion Trees. The world can hold 600 billion trees, but more trees should be planted because not all will survive. By increasing the stakes, the progress is more evident. More action is also happening because evidence is shown from the previous plantings. The public can see the sectoral changes and believe there is purpose in participating in this mission.
The Power of Trees Climate Central
How could trees save the planet? Crowther Lab
The types of trees and the regions planted are also key components to consider in this effort. Trees that live long lives as well as trees that can grow rapidly are known to have the most effective carbon absorption abilities. Finding trees with both of these traits, however, is difficult, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Planting trees in the tropics would be one effective solution to combat climate change as many trees thrive in the tropics. In tropical rainforests, trees receive the most direct sunlight and have plenty of water supply due to the rain throughout the year. Overall, locations with warm weather are good for tree growth as they speed up photosynthesis, according to the Colorado State University Extension. As temperature rises, there is more carbon dioxide in the air for plants to produce oxygen and the trees photosynthesize more rapidly.
When considering the type of tree to be planted, broadleaved trees are often considered one the best options for most locations around the world. Broadleaved trees include oak, hazel, sycamore, and more. With a large surface area of leaves, they would need more photosynthesis for food, but this process would also produce more oxygen for the atmosphere. A list of other tree species with effective carbon absorption can be found in a study done in 2001, which includes the common horse-chestnut, black walnut, American sweetgum, ponderosa pine, red pine, white pine, London plane, Hispaniolan pine, Douglas fir, scarlet oak, red oak, Virginia live oak, and bald cypress. Ultimately, a variety of trees will have to be planted for benefits because of the way different areas would respond to particular types, but the species with the greatest ability to help the current situation has been identified.
Anyone can get involved with planting trees, including students. Foundations such as CaseyTrees, TreePeople, and CRTI accept applications for suggested places and dates to plant trees. Stakeholders like local governments or individuals who want to lead a tree planting group and volunteer opportunity are also informed on the resources to purchase/bring and the conditions to plant the trees in. According to the Nashville government’s “How to Organize a Successful Tree Planting” guide, leaders should also make a timeline six months in advance for assured time for training and becoming familiar with using the resources to get the best results. Some resources include tree seeds, sod cutter/spade, a round shovel, compost or compost manure, and a hard rake. Trees can be planted anytime in the tropics because of the climate that is built for them, but other areas have certain times with conditions best suited for successful planting. Examples of suggestions include planting trees in the fall after leaves have dropped from trees or in the spring before buds start growing. These are suggested times because trees can prepare and establish their roots in these cooler seasons before they start to grow quickly in the heat from spring rains and summer. There is also usually a minimum, such as ten, for how many trees will be planted in one area, for the long process of scheduling and making decisions for the event should not just result in one tree being planted that could potentially die.
Tree planting should not be the only solution used to alleviate the effect of climate change. If actions are not being taken in other sectors, the amount of trees in the ground will not be able to prevent the accelerating impact of climate change. Ultimately, worldwide tree planting along with other approaches will indeed contribute to preventing the global temperature from continuing its current rapid rise.