Hari TulsidasAug 20, 2023
Planting a trillion trees could cool the planet by 0.4 degrees Celsius by 2050, according to a new study by Swiss researchers. They used a global vegetation model to estimate the potential of reforestation to mitigate climate change and found that there is enough suitable land to grow a trillion trees without affecting existing agriculture or urban areas. #TrillionTrees #ClimateChange #Reforestation https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/08/a-trillion-trees-could-cool-the-planet-but-where-to-get-them-theres-a-massive-disconnect/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=HariTulsidas%2Fmagazine%2FArchetypes
Where can we get a trillion trees to cool the planet?

Scientists audited the capacity of U.S. nurseries to grow enough seedlings for ecologically-minded tree planting campaigns. The results were not pretty.

Anthropocene | Innovation in the Human Age
Show threadToni ScottAug 20, 2023
@haritulsidas
The trees are pretty good at planting themselves once humans get out of their way.
Show threadJustin DerrickAug 20, 2023

@ToniScott @haritulsidas The snag is that forest fire sites take nearly 100 years to recover. I’ve driven past forest fire sites in Western Canada, and thought they were two or three years old. Nope, a sign down the road tells anyone who reads it that the site burned 30 years ago.

If we put a small fraction of the money used to subsidize oil & gas projects into remediating forest fire sites, we might be able to cut that time down slightly.

Show threadToni Scott
@JustinDerrick @haritulsidas
Ah, that's interesting. It must be different in colder zones. Here in Ireland I have allowed a cleared piece of my garden to grow its own tiny forest and there are self-seeded local trees that appeared in the first spring. Now growing strongly without intervention.
Aug 20, 2023 at 1:36pmWeb
Show threadJustin DerrickAug 20, 2023
@ToniScott @haritulsidas I think it’s a combination of a few things - short growing seasons, soil damage from all the ash, and given the sheer size of some of the affected areas, natural seed dispersion will be ineffective. I’m not sure which interventions would even work.
Show threadToni ScottAug 20, 2023
@JustinDerrick @haritulsidas
Sowing lupines would probably do it as a pioneer species to fix the soil - I think they are native to Western Canada. Scatter the seeds from a helicopter!