Just plant a tree. How much power does that act contribute to mitigating climate change? Researchers are exploring how allowing natural, diverse forest regeneration compares to monoculture plantings of trees sometimes still called plantations. Their research in the journal Nature Climate Change concludes that either can be cost-effective ways to sequester carbon.
These researchers discuss how either method of reforestation can make dollars and sense, depending on the specific geography and other factors such as responsible logging profitability. Their report concludes, “First, neither reforestation method dominates for cost-effectiveness. A global mix of natural regeneration and plantations can achieve far more mitigation at lower costs than relying exclusively on a single method of reforestation. Second, reforestation is a complement to and not a substitute for reducing emissions from fossil fuels and deforestation.”
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Charles Harvey also researches carbon sequestration and shares the benefits of planting trees on this MIT podcast. “The truth is that most of the tree, the solid material of the tree, is carbon that is pulled out of the air,” Harvey explains to listeners. “Gaseous carbon, carbon dioxide in the air, is turned into wood and roots and leaves by the tree through the process of photosynthesis.” When a tree finishes its life cycle, roots and soil store carbon in the ground, although decaying plant life also releases some carbon back into the atmosphere. Professor Harvey explains the complexities of the carbon cycle in relation to forests and why more research is needed to know to what extent trees are helping us combat climate change.
What is happening today to promote tree-planting? The Forest Service is incentivizing new forest creation in urban areas through the Urban and Community Forest Program. The Farm Service Agency works with rural landowners to preserve forests through the Forest Management Incentive program. The Arbor Day Foundation continues its mission of encouraging all of us to at least plant a tree.
Anne Brock is marketing coordinator for Solar Alliance, which designs and manages solar installation projects for manufacturers and small businesses. She can be reached at email or 865-221-8349.
