Planting Trees: Can Trees Undo Climate Change? | ClimateScience #5

Will planting trees be enough to solve climate change? The short answer is no. Planting trees is and will be crucial to help stabilize global temperatures, but it won’t be the only solution.
Check out our chapter on reforestation and afforestation to learn more: climatescience...
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[@mitchbrown107]

It wont cure the problem but jeeze itll help. Any big endeavour like this would be undertaken after extensive research for the right balance of trees. Plus the benefits of creating jobs in the current economy is a big benefit. It should be a high priority to every government.

[@kanikaprajapat8722]

What an insightful video!! Nothing about climate change is simple 😅

[@nielsdaemen]

*Why do you think trees cool the planet? I did A lot of research and I found that trees actually have a net warming effect on the planet because of the following factors:* 1 Albedo: Trees generally have a lower albedo than bear ground or grass, meaning they are a darker color and absorb more sunlight. In snowy areas this effect is many times larger, since the albedo difference between snow and trees is way bigger. And yes, snow can cover the trees, but only partially and it will quickly fall off with wind and sun. 2 Evaporation: Trees evaporate huge amounts of water, which cools the leaves of the tree and thereby the air around the tree, BUT this heat is stored as latent heat in the water vapor and therefore the cooling is only local, no heat is actually lost. In fact, as this water vapor is added to the atmosphere it will trap more heat because of its very strong greenhouse effect. Furthermore: because the tree is cooler than for example, rock exposed to the same sunlight, it also radiates less heat back into space (Stefan-Boltzmann law) The only possible cooling effect of a tree comes the co2 it pulls out of the air. Now this is only true for the growth phase of the tree, if you take the entire lifecycle of the tree including its eventual decomposition, it will release just as much CO2 as it captured! Therefore, a stable forest does not capture any CO2 and doesn’t generate any O2 either! It’s a closed carbon cycle. Of course, it is true that cutting down an already existing forest and burning the trees does release CO2 into the atmosphere. But if you would cut down trees and only use them for construction so the carbon will stay in the wood, it would actually have a net cooling effect. Evidence: In these net radiation maps you can see that the Sahara Desert has a net cooling effect while other regions at equal latitude (with more trees) have a net warming effect. Same is true for Australia and the middle east. You will also notice that ocean has the biggest net heating effect of all surfaces. earthobservatory.nasa.gov/global-maps/CERES_NETFLUX_M climatefeedback.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/radiation_terms_CERES_EBAF-scaled.jpg www.e-education.psu.edu/earth103/node/1007

[@ClimateScience]

Hi Niels! Thank you so much for your really elaborate and fully-cited response! I have forwarded your comment to our Head of Content who will have a look and see if there are any claims we made in the video that are not up to standards. If you are interested in expanding on this, please do get in touch with us on [e-mail]. Thanks from the ClimateScience team

[@ClimateScience]

Mia, our Head of Content had a good look and did some more research on the intricacies you brought up, here's her response: Thank you so much for your comment! There certainly is a delicate balance between trees’ ability to take in carbon, hence slowing down warming, and their tendency to have a lower albedo than land, hence increasing local warming. As you have outlined, and as our video tries to express, there are many factors that play into whether or not planting trees is a worthwhile investment as a solution to climate change! As you say, a stable forest is a closed carbon loop. The carbon from one dead tree will be broken down by decomposers and released into the soil or air, where another tree can absorb it again. This means that stable forests are a great store of carbon! But should we be planting more trees and forests to undo climate change by storing carbon? This is a little more tricky… You are right that trees tend to have a lower albedo than the ground beneath them, meaning that they reflect less radiation. This is particularly true for boreal forests planted far North or far South. Their low albedo compared to the snowy land they replace means that these types of trees planted in this location can speed up local warming [1, 2]. But the degree of this lowering of albedo is different for different types of trees in different locations. In tropical regions, the decrease in albedo isn’t as strong [2,3]. On top of this, these regions receive more of the sun’s energy, so trees grow and absorb CO₂ more quickly [3]. Trees in these regions also release lots of water vapour, which brings us to the second point you made. Water plays many different roles in the climate system. Evapotranspiration is when trees release water vapour. This, as you say, cools locally by releasing heat [4]. Heat is a form of energy and energy is never made or destroyed, only transferred. The trees here are allowing heat to transfer from the place where the water evaporated (Forest area) to where the water condenses (clouds) [4]. Clouds whiten the atmosphere, therefore increase the albedo, but at the same time the condensation of water vapour radiates heat, meaning water acts as a greenhouse gas [5, 6, 7] This means the relationship between evapotranspiration and global warming is a complex one. The effect of increased water vapour from evapotranspiration forming clouds on global temperature varies depending on how high the cloud forms and over what period the temperature is measured and where in the world you are studying [8,9,10,11]. (It is also important to note that globally, the increase in water vapour due to evapotranspiration from added trees pales in comparison to the increase in water vapour from global warming due to climate change. Warm air can hold more water and as our oceans warm, more water is being evaporated!) In these tropical regions, the net effect is that of cooling, so the biophysical effects of reforestation (eg albedo and heat transfer) do not offset the biochemical effect (eg carbon sequestration) [12,13,14,15]. At the same time, maintaining vegetation helps keep our soil healthy, and healthy soils can also store carbon! You can read more about this in our soil carbon sequestration chapter: climatescience.org/advanced-soil-carbon-sequestration So, do trees cool the planet? The answer is, its complicated. At the end of the day, protecting existing forests is always the better option for climate change [16]. This is because forests are much more than just their trees and are made up of intricate networks above and below the soil that takes years, if not decades, to form. These complex networks enable ancient forests to absorb more CO₂, and the trees in these systems are also usually more resistant to droughts, fires, and storms [17]. You can read more about what we have outlined above in our Undo Climate Change course, in the chapter ‘Planting Trees’. climatescience.org/advanced-reforestation-afforestation-tree-planting References: 1: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/3/4/044006/pdf 2: www.nature.com/articles/ngeo1182 3: bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/2627/2021/ 4: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/6/3/034032/pdf 5: www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2022.756115/full 6: climate.nasa.gov/ask-nasa-climate/3143/steamy-relationships-how-atmospheric-water-vapor-amplifies-earths-greenhouse-effect/#:~:text=It's%20condensable%20%E2%80%93%20it%20can%20be,it%20to%20warm%20even%20more. 7: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378017300134 8: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aae018/pdf 9: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378017300134 10: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/3/4/044006/pdf 11: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/6/3/034032/pdf 12: www.researchgate.net/publication/284705706_A_role_for_tropical_forests_in_stabilizing_atmospheric_CO2 13: www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2022.756115/full 14: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378017300134 15: www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0608998104 16: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.15498 17: www.nature.com/articles/s41477-021-01088-5

[@nielsdaemen]

@@ClimateScience Thank you for your very detailed response! I will look into it.

[@brunafritschesilva4609]

This is so important! We scarce think about this when talking about climate change!

[@Ana-xv5yz]

Fantastically made and super informative video. Thank you for all the hard work!

[@ClimateScience]

Thank you, Ana:) Means a lot!

[@user-io1ec5md6i]

hi ann

[@oceanevil01]

Thank you for another great video. But I recommend we should watch "Kiss the Ground" documentry about soil sequestration. It is really interesting concept and might be a very powerful solution, especially, in combination with "careful planting" as this clip describe, to reverse the climate crisis. Because we all know that stopping emission (i.e. zero carbon) is not sufficient as we are well on the way to the climate diaster. We have to something about the CO2 and other GHGs that is already in the atmosphere.

[@ClimateScience]

Extremely good points Aung! We have a course coming out soon about several different ways to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In it, you'll find an entire chapter devoted to soil carbon sequestration! We'll be sure to make a video about this soon.

[@loralarose9615]

Green plants absorb carbon

[@DegrowthPlaylists]

Definitely my favourite one so far !

[@user-ez1wn1vr6m]

This video is really informative and helpful for me to improve my english skills. Thank you so much from VietNam and l hope you will continually develop this channel ❤

[@ClimateScience]

Happy to hear that!

[@joshedemkojodotse4205]

Insightful and educative. Big Ups. This is going straight to my page

[@ClimateScience]

Thank you very much Josh!

[@peterkhoury7746]

So what i understood from the video is, that is not just planting trees wherever can solve climare change on long term, but we have to take in consideration where we plant each category of trees to be in coheration with the soil and the trees can grow up in this place to make sense and to be effective? And the conclusion is it will not be enough we have to reduce carbon to zero so it is human being activity.

[@ClimateScience]

That's about right! The conclusion here is that we need to learn about climate change and its solutions because sadly planting trees won't solve all problems. It is *one part* of a long list of solutions towards climate change if done right.

[@michaelbacklund9882]

Great video!! Always looking forward to these :)

[@ClimateScience]

Thanks Michael:) We're always glad to see familiar names in the comment section.

[@joobs5579]

This video is very informative thank you, could you make a video of other ways we can reduce climate change like growing more sea plants such as seaweed?

[@ClimateScience]

Thank you, Jess. Noted! Feel free to reach out anytime if you are interested in any other topics too and we'll consider making a video about them.

[@RadhikaShantanusKitchen]

Great video

[@henryarero]

Together As 1 in planting Millions of trees every year Country Wide starting tomorrow the 13th November 2023, Initiatives towards addressing climate change in Kenya

[@RadhikaShantanusKitchen]

Please make video on science topic also like metal and non metals

[@teyhoonboon5853]

Plant the tree is a natural way to absorb CO2 in atmosphere. It is also the best solutionl to mitigate climate change.

[@henryarero]

Local Communities in Marsabit County is fully booked and ready for tree planting Day

[@jcjensenllc]

Planting an abundance of tall, deep rooted grass can sequester more carbon and do it faster than trees. Stopping deforestation is perhaps more important than planting trees. In USA stopped subsidizing fossil fuels maybe less tree planting would be required.

[@rachellewalters8111]

We can plant them on top of buildings/skyscrapers too? That and other bushes/ greenary? Plant more cactuses in desert areas, (such as all over Texas etc...)

[@user-io1ec5md6i]

Thanks iam using my mums laptop i like agriculteru

[@mariaeduardaribas7206]

👏👏👏

[@user-lm6ti2zm5d]

How can we grabs notes

[@joshuamaka876]

Definitely subscribed, finally a channel willing to challenge the false narratives around climate change like we can tree plant our way out of the climate crisis. Trees are definitely good for other purposes but not as a one stop solution to climate change as its made to look like.

[@ClimateScience]

Thanks for the sub! You're absolutely right, tree planting is effective in many ways but climate change is too complex for there to be a single solution to it all.

[@loralarose9615]

Lol yeah green absorb carbon clean the air cool it he earth

[@tamannajahan1414]

Wow Amazing !

[@ClimateScience]

Thank you, Tamanna:)

[@glory3339]

Why do we still have central means of electricity production? When the solution is already available. Solar panels + Solar Battery (I have this already and in summer my electricity use is 100% solar powered) on every house, building, warehouse, school, rooftop etc. All new cars are Electric cars immediately, the ones with or without solar panel rooftops (already available). Just bring it in, never mind the inconvenience - all new cars must be electric by 2023. All new small trucks must be something like a rivian or tesla cybertruck or equivalent. All new heavy trucks must be hydrogen or electric trucks. That would be a huge help

[@jikalau8753]

Act Now ❤️

[@620annika]

Can you do one on ocean acidification? :)

[@ClimateScience]

Will do!!

[@biplobmia6453]

nice😍

[@billytoker1]

So if we plant trees responsibly then we can undo climate change. Doesn’t sound very complicated.

[@ClimateScience]

If we plant trees responsibly, we can make use of this technique as part of the way towards "undoing" climate change. Planting trees on its alone (even if done sustainably) will not be the solution.

[@joka5345]

Who are you funded by?

[@ClimateScience]

We are a UK-based charity, which means we make public from whom we receive which amount of donations. You can see our filing history on the following UK government page: find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12370672/filing-history

[@firefox4178]

Trees DON'T keep C from CO2, actually the O2 comes from H2O

[@robertlee6479]

Yes, planting trees is good for all , but too late too stop the cycle we are in. So we will all pay the price of our greed and incessant breeding.

[@matham625]

a forest planting guide made for you by the electric car industry

[@gelflingmusic9428]

It will only get worse because of evil townships. They cut down many more trees every year. We could at least stop them ja? At least not make it worse.

[@vivalou1496]

What a crock of bull. You know planting more trees is the way to go. Nature is always the way to go . Man always knows how to mess it up. And bots giving this video praise just makes this look more video more shady.

[@hariharanvinod1531]

Aforestation is good for the environment, but what the video mentions is planting the right types of trees. Invasive species can wreck havoc on existing ecosystems. We need to plant trees that are local and beneficial for the organism of that habitat

[@ralpherrolprado]

Answer: pandemic

[@jackhaus5238]

Plant them,, man is a destroyer

[@joka5345]

LIES. PLANT TREES.

[@hariharanvinod1531]

The video never said not to The video only highlights that it's important to plant the right type of trees according to the environment. Support Aforestation