Plants, as we know, are extremely important to the control of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Trees play a major part in this process. Through photosynthesis, trees and plants take what CO2 is in the air and literally consume it. With that being said, researchers believe that the reforestation of Earth is key in the war against high carbon levels and global warming.
Recently published in Science, "The global tree restoration potential" report states that there are millions of hectares available on Earth, that if replanted, could potentially erase 100 years worth of CO2 from the atmosphere. However, as global temperatures rise, suitable land for reforestation diminishes.
Experts say that if the Earth's temperatures are limited to only a 1.5-degree Celsius increase, the proposed lands could be reduced by up to 20 percent by the year 2050. This impact comes as climates would be too warm for reforestation of tropical climates.
"Our study shows clearly that forest restoration is the best climate change solution available today," said Tom Crowther, an ETH Zürich researcher who lead the study.
"That does not alter the vital importance of protecting existing forests and phasing out fossil fuels since new forests would take decades to mature," Crowther explained in a statement.
"If we act now, this could cut carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by up to 25 percent, to levels last seen almost a century ago," he says.
While this plan may seem quite simple on paper, it is estimated that it would require nearly a century just to reach forestation levels that could lessen the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. At the same time, 40 billion tons of CO2 are being released every year. This is mainly due to fossil-fuel burning industries.
"The only way we can keep below 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius, is to stop emitting fossil fuels," says Glen Peters, the director of research at Norway's Center for International Climate Research.
That means no new fossil fuel-using infrastructure can be built, and some existing power plants need to shut down early, based on a major study published in Nature.
"Large-scale CO2 removal through reforestation will help offset emissions from sectors like aviation where alternatives are not yet available, and perhaps help lower temperatures," says Peters.
Researchers, using high-resolution satellite photographs combined with the mapping capabilities of Google Earth Engine , were able to devise a predictive model which showed potential growth on a worldwide scale.
The model reveals that over half of the required space to accomplish such a goal lies in only six countries. Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and China combine for roughy 480 million hectares of available land.
