Nature-Based and Natural Solutions
The Frog will explore The Climate Action Handbook: A Visual Guide to 100 Climate Solutions by Heidi Roop in the first 100 days of 2024
In the first `100 days of 2024 we will explore 100 climate solutions that may “empower you to evaluate, engage, and act” to address on-going climate change as an individual on your terms.
Forests are our premier carbon sinks, in that they absorb and store more carbon dioxide than they produce. Once turned into wood, the carbon produced by photosynthesis remains with the tree until it decomposes or is burned in a fire.
“In the US, forest have stored about 14 percent of the country’s CO2 emissions!”
Managing forests to optimize their role as a carbon sink is a key part of our mitigation strategy aimed at being net zero as soon as we can. Heidi points out that perhaps with purposeful management, the Earth can support about 25 percent more land covered with trees than we have now.
We will have to plan 500 billion new trees and manage them to take full advantage of the available land. If we do, we would create a sink for 25 percent of current atmospheric carbon which represents 20 years of human-caused emission.
Groups are organizing the effort, for instance with The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees program. And consistent with all climate action, “a billion begins with one”
To have a significant impact
Will planting trees “solve climate change”? No. By now we know that no one action will “solve climate change”. But we know that trees are effective carbon sinks. But planting trees to address climate change effectively requires planning and management. Planting trees as a climate action is important enough that we will explore the approach in more depth in upcoming posts.
“Sadly, it’s much easier to create a desert than a forest”
James Lovelock
Next Up: Climate Action in 2024 – Day 67: Carefully Consider Carbon Offsets
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