JRL NEWSWATCH: “Can Russia be key in fighting climate change? Russia tree planting would represent a benign form of international partnership” – Washington Times/ Edward Lozansky
“… There are 3 trillion trees in the world. … major absorbers of greenhouse gases. A hardwood can absorb up to 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year, adding up to about a ton of carbon dioxide in its first four decades. Thomas Crowther and a team of researchers from ETH Zurich have calculated that the world has an additional 2.2 billion acres of land suitable for reforestation. … enough room to plant an extra 1.2 trillion trees … provid[ing] a lot of potential for carbon sequestration. More than half of reforestation potential is in six countries: Russia (373 million acres), followed by the United States (255 million), Canada (194 million), Australia (143 million), Brazil (123 million) and China (99.3 million). Ironically, the bulk of this is in the planet’s north because of the very warming at issue. The possibility: 1.2 trillion trees could take up 205 billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere. … two-thirds of the 300 billion tons of carbon released into the atmosphere from human activity since the start of the Industrial Revolution. …”