US EditionWant to Plant Trees to Offset Fossil Fuels? You'd Need All of North and Central America, Study Finds
- A study published on Thursday found that planting trees to offset emissions from the world's largest fossil-fuel companies would require covering all of North and Central America and more.
- Researchers estimated that offsetting emissions through afforestation would require planting trees over an area exceeding 9 million square miles, roughly the combined size of North America and parts of South America, based on the assumption that all fossil fuel reserves are eventually utilized—a scenario with considerable uncertainties.
- The study warns this scale of tree planting would displace existing infrastructure, farmland, and habitats, and cost around $10.8 trillion—more than the combined market value of the 200 largest fossil fuel companies.
- Experts emphasize that carbon emissions resemble an overflowing bathtub that requires turning off the source first, with trees acting as sponges and mops rather than a full solution.
- The study and experts conclude that stopping fossil fuel emissions is essential, and while offsetting can provide benefits, it cannot replace the urgent need to reduce carbon output and keep oil and gas in the ground.
56 Articles
56 Articles
The Sun (Lowell)
Want to plant trees to offset fossil fuels? You’d need all of North and Central America, study finds
By MELINA WALLING Planting trees has plenty of benefits, but this popular carbon-removal method alone can’t possibly counteract the planet-warming emissions caused by the world’s largest fossil-fuel companies. To do that, trees would have to cover the entire land mass of North and Central America, according to a study out Thursday. Many respected climate scientists and institutions say removing carbon emissions — not just reducing them — is esse…
Associated Press News
Want to plant trees to offset fossil fuels? You'd need all of North and Central America, study finds
Planting trees can help save the planet, right? A new study finds that to offset all the planet-warming carbon emissions from fossil fuel reserves, trees would have to entirely cover an area the size of North and Central America combined.
Tree Planting Alone Can't Compensate for Global Fossil Fuel Emissions
Afforestation Initiative in British Columbia, Canada James McDonald/Bloomberg via Getty Images Achieving sufficient tree planting to counterbalance the climate effects of fossil fuel combustion is nearly unfeasible. The land required to offset around 182 billion tonnes of carbon contained in the reserves of the world’s leading fossil fuel companies exceeds the available area of North [...] The post Tree Planting Alone Can’t Compensate for Global…
Want to plant trees to offset fossil fuels? You'd need all of North and Central America, study finds - The Morning Sun
Planting trees has plenty of benefits, but this popular carbon-removal method alone can't possibly counteract the planet-warming emissions caused by the world's largest fossil-fuel companies. To do that, trees would have to cover the entire land mass of North and Central America, according to a study out Thursday. Many respected climate scientists and institutions say removing carbon emissions — not just reducing them — is essential to tackling …
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