Planting Trees May Not
Reverse Climate Change, but It Will Help Locally
Afforestation,
planting trees in an area where there have previously been no trees, can reduce
the effect of climate change by cooling temperate regions, finds a study in
BioMed Central's open access journal Carbon Balance and Management. Afforestation
would lead to cooler and wetter summers by the end of this century.
Without
check climate change is projected to lead to summer droughts and winter floods
across Europe.
Using REMO, the regional climate model of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, researchers tested what would happen to climate change in 100 years if land currently covered in non-forest vegetation was converted into deciduous forest.
This equates to more than a doubling of forest in Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Northern Ukraine, Northern Germany and France. But in already heavily forested countries such as Sweden the increase is smaller, at less than 10%.
Using REMO, the regional climate model of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, researchers tested what would happen to climate change in 100 years if land currently covered in non-forest vegetation was converted into deciduous forest.
This equates to more than a doubling of forest in Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Northern Ukraine, Northern Germany and France. But in already heavily forested countries such as Sweden the increase is smaller, at less than 10%.
The
large leaf area and low aerodynamic resistance of these types of trees lends
itself to enhanced evapotranspiration compared to other vegetation, cooling the
surrounding air, and leading to cooler surface temperatures.
The model indicates that in the northern part of central Europe and Ukraine afforestation results in 0.3-0.5C decrease in temperature and 10-15% more summer rain by 2071-2090.
The model indicates that in the northern part of central Europe and Ukraine afforestation results in 0.3-0.5C decrease in temperature and 10-15% more summer rain by 2071-2090.
The
effect of planting trees depends on the environment of each region. Dr Borbála
Gálos, who led this study, explained, "While we realize that the amount of
afforestation included in our model is unrealistic in practice, even a more
modest program of planting trees could theoretically reduce the effect of
climate change in Northern Europe.
There is less of an effect in more southerly regions due to complex issues including soil moisture content. However, even in these areas, forest cover can provide localized benefits by making the surrounding air moister and cooler, sequestering carbon, protecting biodiversity and air quality, and preventing soil erosion."
There is less of an effect in more southerly regions due to complex issues including soil moisture content. However, even in these areas, forest cover can provide localized benefits by making the surrounding air moister and cooler, sequestering carbon, protecting biodiversity and air quality, and preventing soil erosion."
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Journal Reference:
1. Borbála Gálos, Stefan Hagemann, Andreas Hänsler,
Georg Kindermann, Diana Rechid, Kevin Sieck, Claas Teichmann and Daniela
Jacob. Case study for the assessment of the biogeophysical effects of a
potential afforestation in Europe. Carbon Balance and Management,
2013 DOI:10.1186/1750-0680-8-3
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BioMed Central Limited (2013, January 30). Planting trees may not
reverse climate change, but it will help locally. ScienceDaily.
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