How Can Scientific Approaches to Planting Trees Help Address Climate Change?

It’s a no-brainer: planting trees can help address the severity of global climate
change and reduce its adverse effects on ecosystems and biodiversity. Trees absorb
carbon that might otherwise contribute to global warming. Photosynthesis is a
process in which plants combine carbon dioxide and water to make energy (glucose).
This way, trees consume the carbon that we desperately need to keep out of the
environment. In addition to capturing carbon dioxide, trees also assist the soil in
capturing and storing carbon.

d)

Be it Amazon Rainforest or our own Western Ghats, forests are proven to be the
greatest carbon sinks if left undisturbed. Vegetation stores a significant quantity of
carbon while also providing a habitat for a diverse range of organisms. Even though
these regions are critical for decreasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and
mitigating climate change, they are being destroyed and degraded at alarming rates.
Deforestation caused by humans destroys one football field of tropical rainforest
every six seconds. In a matter of seconds, millions of years of development and
progress may be burnt down and destroyed.

As nations commit to carbon neutrality in the coming decades as part of the United
Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) at Glasgow, we must remember that a
scientific approach to tree-planting is vital in our battle against climate change.

c)

The international research team, led by Jean-Francois Bastin of ETH-Zurich in

Switzerland, created a model for assessing Earth's forest regeneration potential
using direct measurements of forest cover throughout the world. They discovered
that Earth's ecosystems could support an additional 900 million hectares (2.2 billion
acres) of forest or 25% more than we now have.

d)

According to the scientists, we could collect around 205 gigatons of carbon (one
gigaton equals one billion metric tonnes) by planting more than half a trillion trees,
lowering atmospheric carbon by 25%. At the present rate, that's enough to offset
around 20 years of human-produced carbon emissions, or almost half of all carbon
created by humans since 1960.

To ensure that trees are utilized effectively to address climate change, it is crucial to
consider several essential factors. Wildfires have become more common as a result
of climate change across the world. Planting trees in the wrong way or neglecting
them during their first few years of growth can exacerbate the problem, destroying
additional trees and increasing carbon dioxide emissions due to changes in land
cover.

Factors such as type of trees, species adaptability, geographical location, soil type,
and others ensure that a tree matures to its full size and provide environmental,
economic, and social benefits throughout its lifetime. Weather conditions need to be
closely monitored so that new plants have sufficient time to establish roots in the new
location before spring rains and summer heat stimulate new top growth.
What is the function of a tree/plant? How long does the plant live? Is the plant
relatively pest-free? What are the maintenance requirements of the plant? What is
the preferred culture of the plant? In what kind of soil does the plant thrive? These
are some of the questions to think about while starting a planting initiative. This would
aid in the efficient use of our natural resources and assure a high rate of planting,
which is critical in light of the rising challenge of climate change.

d)

It should be recognized that planting enough trees to absorb the quantity of carbon
dioxide released into the atmosphere due to fossil fuel combustion is unachievable.
While we invest our time and energy in plantation initiatives, we must also reduce our
reliance on fossil fuels and shift to renewable energy. One of the simplest ways to
lessen deforestation and safeguard our remaining forests is to make tiny dietary
adjustments. Moving to a plant-based diet is a proven way to reduce our carbon
footprint.

Furthermore, we must aim for better environmental safeguards and broader

ecological restoration in conjunction with reforestation to aid in the battle against
climate change and give various additional advantages, such as better water quality.
We are learning to say goodbye to the much-loved paper as the Internet era dawns
in the twenty-first century. Many new projects and programs are being introduced to
provide a cost-effective solution to help the environment by planting trees and
reducing carbon emissions.

With concepts like 'Greet with Trees', we can promote sustainable gifting and
popularize the notion of trees as presents. It allows people, companies, and
stakeholders to plant trees in the name of loved ones on special occasions in areas
in dire need of reforestation.

b)

The advantages of planting trees and their involvement in mitigating climate change
have been repeatedly demonstrated. All we have to do now is pursue a scientific and
sustainable strategy for tree planting, and humanity can reap the benefits for years to
come.

By Bikrant Tiwary

November 3rd , 2021

https://weather.com/en-IN/india/climate-change/news/2021-11-03-scientific-
approaches-to-planting-trees-help-address-climate
Written Article Analysis

A Critical Analysis of the Given Article

a) In the article, “How Can Scientific Approaches to Planting Trees Help Address
Climate Change?”, the author, Bikrant Tiwary is addressing the issue of whether
scientific approach is required in planting trees in order to improve climate change.

b) The author argues that scientific approach is required in planting trees to make
significant positive change in climate change.

c) The types of support presented by the author include examples, research findings
and statistics. Some examples were presented in order to elaborate on factors of the
way trees are planted such as type of trees, species adaptability, geographical
location, soil type, and others. The author also presents research findings by the
international research team which is led by Jean-Francois Bastin of ETH-Zurich in
Switzerland. The team created a model for assessing Earth's forest regeneration
potential using direct measurements of forest cover throughout the world. Moreover,
the author presented statistics to support his argument. One of the statistics
presented was discovered by Jean-Francois Bastin team. They discovered that
Earth's ecosystems could support an additional 900 million hectares of forest or 25%
more than we now have. Scientists also provided that we could collect around 205
gigatons of carbon by planting more than half a trillion trees, lowering atmospheric
carbon by 25%.

d)
I. The supports used by the author are relevant as they are directly related to the
argument. For example, the author presented a research finding about the potential
of Earth’s forest regeneration which had a discovery about how the Earth’s
ecosystem could support an additional 900 million hectares of forest.
II. The author’s argument on planting trees using scientific approach is also objective
since they are supported by facts and evidence. For example, according to a statistic
by scientists, by planting more than half a trillion trees, we could collect 205 gigatons
of carbon which will lower the atmospheric carbon by 25%. Even though the
decrease in atmospheric carbon does not seem like a lot, it is still enough to offset
around 20 years of human-produced carbon emissions at the present rate. Without
the evidence, we would not be able to determine how much potential do we have to
improve the current state of climate change.
III. Furthermore, the author presents several claims that highlights the weaknesses of
relying solely on trees to address the problem with climate change such as:

 Wildfires is common as a result of climate change which will significantly

decrease forest areas.

 Neglecting trees during their few years of growth can exacerbate the problem.
 The quantity of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere due to fossil fuel
combustion makes it impossible to solve climate change using trees only.

However, the author also provided counter arguments to show that trees alone can
address climate change without any scientific approach. In doing so, the argument is
complete. Counter arguments that were provided, namely

 Forests are proven to be the greatest carbon sinks if left undisturbed.

 Vegetation stores a significant quantity of carbon while also providing a habitat

for a diverse range of organisms.

IV. Having said all this, some of the arguments and counter arguments provided may
be correct but they lack validity as there is no external support such as research
findings or statistics.

e) In summary, from understanding the authors opinions we can conclude that

scientific approach for tree planting is required to bring the change on ecosystems
and biodiversity as trees cannot simply be utilized effectively to address climate
change without being planted using the correct scientific approach.

f) Stated main Ideas: Scientific approach to tree-planting is vital in our battle against
climate change.

Implied main Ideas: Planting trees with scientific approach is important when battling
against climate change

i) The tone is objective. The author does not express any feelings in the text, but
merely states the facts. For example, the author talks about how planting trees can
help address the severity of global climate change and do they work.

j) Furthermore, the author’s intended audience is the society at large since the word
‘our’ used repeatedly in the text.