Climate Benefits of Planting Forests Might be Overestimated

{Climate Benefits of Planting Forests.    Our view is that it is good that this is being heavily researched and we aim to support that research.  There is more to it.  The under storey, the wildlife, the fungi. If the benefits are overestimated then we must plant even more.  Its quite simple – Earth and Leaf Editorial}

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Climate benefits of planting forests might be overestimated

The warming avoided by planting CO2-absorbing forests could be around 15 to 30 per cent lower than previously estimated due to feedbacks such as dark trees reflecting less sunlight.

Planting forests will help limit further warming of the planet by soaking up some of the carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere. But the climate benefits on a global level could be around 15 to 30 per cent smaller than previous estimates because of other effects, such as trees absorbing sunlight.

“We are not saying don’t plant trees,” says James Weber at the University of Sheffield in the UK. It is just that the climate benefits aren’t as large as we thought, he says.

The impact trees have depends in part on what other actions are taken to tackle climate change. The more that is done, the greater the benefits of planting forests, Weber and his colleagues have shown. “It’s more positive and more efficient if we also do other things as well,” he says.

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