Reforestation

Successful Reforestation Is Keeping the Eastern U.S. CoolerParts of the southeastern and central U.S. haven’t warmed as much as the rest of the country. Reforestation could be partially responsible for this “warming hole”By Jude ColemanDolly Sods Wilderness, now a protected part of the Monongahela National Forest in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia, was logged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Credit: John M. Chase/Getty ImagesDespite climate change cranking up the heat across the U.S., several eastern…

New research reveals the adverse effects of misdirected reforestation projects in Africa, where tree planting in non-forest ecosystems like savannas and grasslands threatens biodiversity and local communities. The study urges a revision of reforestation definitions and practices to prevent ecological and social harm, highlighting a global challenge. Credit: Kate Parr, University of LiverpoolA new study conducted by the University of Liverpool has brought to light challenges associated with reforestation and restoration…

Reforestation in the eastern U.S. has been shown to mitigate regional warming trends, with research highlighting forests’ significant cooling effects on both land and air temperatures. This underscores the potential of reforestation as a tool for climate adaptation and mitigation.Much of the U.S. warmed during the 20th century, but the eastern part of the country remained mysteriously cool. The recovery of forests could explain why.Widespread 20th-century reforestation in the eastern United States helped counter rising…

A century of forest growth likely helped keep the eastern United States cool as the rest of the country warmed, according to a new study in Earth’s Future. Credit: Wes Hicks/Unsplash Widespread 20th-century reforestation in the eastern United States helped counter rising temperatures due to climate change, according to new research. The authors highlight the potential of forests as regional climate adaptation tools, which are…

Some Republicans are seemingly no longer denying that climate change isn’t real, and they have a plan to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. Not, it’s not supporting a transition towards renewable energy. They want to plant more trees. What Is Carbon Capture? With Gizmodo’s Molly Taft | TechmodoHouse Speaker Kevin McCarthy visited a natural gas drilling site in Ohio last month to promote House Republicans’ plan to push domestic energy production. He claimed that the U.S.’ natural gas was “cleaner” than Russia’s. “God has…

One of the largest timber companies in the world is claiming to “contribute to climate change solutions,” despite the fact that it’s planning to increase lumber production over the next couple of years. As the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, logging giant Weyerhaeuser has made a pivot in recent years to promoting its timber activities as sustainable and green, a move that follows the drive towardcreating profitable carbon offsets from forests—despite the fuzzy math in play.Could NASA's Electric Airplane Make…

The world is set to get a lot greener over the next 10 years. The United Nations has designated 2021–30 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and many countries, with help from donors, have launched ambitious programs to restore forests in places where they were chopped down or degraded. At the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Egypt last week, the European Union and 26 nations pledged $16 billion in support of forests, banking on trees’ ability to slow climate…

Trees catty corner to soybean fields in the Brazilian Amazon.Photo: Leo Correa (AP)Countries will need close to 3 billion acres (1.2 billion hectares) of land to fulfill their current climate pledges, thanks to their focus on techniques like planting new trees over tougher but less land-intensive methods of reducing greenhouse gasses, a report released Tuesday finds. That’s roughly half the amount currently used for all global agriculture and a bigger area than the entire United States.The Intergovernmental Panel on…

A view of the Ateca fire on July 20, 2022. Photo: Fabián Simón (AP)A Dutch company that claims it can help businesses “turn CO2 into forests” using data, drones, and other tech is responsible for sparking a wildfire in Spain this week that has already burned tens of thousands of acres and caused 2,000 people to evacuate.In a press release published on its website, Land Life, which is based in the Netherlands, said that a fire began on July 18 at one of its sites in the Ateca region in Aragon, Spain, when one of its…