PLANTING TREES TO SAVE THE WORLD

I For many years, temperatures have slowly been rising all over the world. Now we are beginning to see the terrible effects of global warming. For instance, changes in climate are causing extremely hot, dry weather in some places, and flooding in others. The main reason for global warming is well known: the huge quantities of the gas CO2 that cars and factories throughout the world release1 into the atmosphere. Some attempts2 have been made to slow down3 global warming by finding ways to reduce the amount of CO2 that is being released. However, many scientists believe that we must also try to remove the gas that is already in the atmosphere.

II A group of Swiss scientists recently published a study that investigated different ways of doing this. Their surprising conclusion: the best and cheapest method would be to plant one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) trees. Trees naturally take CO2 from the air as they grow. The Swiss group claims that a trillion more trees in the world would remove most of the gas that has entered the atmosphere over the past century.

III The Swiss study has also identified where the additional trees could be planted. Using thousands of satellite5 photos, they found huge areas of land available in the United States, Russia, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and China. In several of these countries, there are environmental groups that are already planting large numbers of trees. However, the Swiss scientists warn that such groups can't plant enough to have any effect on global warming. For the trillion-tree plan to be successful, the scientists say, governments must become involved.

IV George Manning, a leading British environmentalist, strongly believes in the Swiss plan. However, he feels it is unlikely to be carried out6. "I don't think it will get all the government support it needs, because even today, most countries don't have policies7 for fighting global warming," he says. "Look, for example, at Malaysia. You could plant billions of trees in its rainforests. But instead, huge numbers of trees are cut down every year, and the government isn't doing anything about it." Nevertheless, the Swiss scientists remain8 optimistic. They believe that the general public is so concerned about saving the planet that governments will be forced to act9.