Most effective way to fight global warming? Plant trees
The ETH Zurich researchers say six countries with the most space for new trees are Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil and China.
Keystone / Friso Gentsch
An area of 900 million hectares could be planted with at least one trillion trees around the world to effectively combat global warming, researchers at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) have calculated.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/sb
Once they have grown, the trees could store 205 billion tonnes of carbon, according to a study by Jean-François Bastin and Tom Crowther from ETH ZurichExternal link, which has been published in the latest edition of the journal Science.
This represents about two-thirds of the 300 billion tonnes of carbon that has been released into the atmosphere as a result of human activity since the Industrial Revolution.
The researchers say most of the benefit will come early on because trees remove more carbon from the air when they are younger. The potential for removing the most carbon is in the tropics.
Six countries with the most space for new trees are Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil and China.
The researchers used Google Earth and artificial intelligence to see what areas could support more trees, while leaving room for people and crops. Bastin estimated there’s space for at least 1 trillion more trees, but it could be 1.5 trillion.
“We all knew that restoring forests could play a part in tackling climate change, but we didn’t really know how big the impact would be. Our study shows clearly that forest restoration is the best climate change solution available today,” said Crowther. “But we must act quickly, as new forests will take decades to mature and achieve their full potential as a source of natural carbon storage.”
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Abroad
How centuries of Swiss emigrants left their mark on the US
Bodycams: essential for good law enforcement, or a privacy risk?
Did you ever come across bodycams in your place of residence and if so, how do you think the use of bodycams alter the relationship between the public and (transport) police?
This content was published on
Swiss wheelchair racer Catherine Debrunner won the 5,000 metres to bring home Switzerland’s first gold medal at the Paralympics in Paris.
An Alpine village on the frontline of climate change
This content was published on
Guttannen is a small and rustic village up in the Swiss Alps that exudes serenity. But this tranquil idyll is threatened by an unstable mountain.
Swiss climate policy: praised abroad, attacked at home
This content was published on
According to an international ranking, Switzerland is one of the best-performing nations in the fight against global warming.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.