A group of researchers from the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich conducted a scientific study to determine the amount of hectares needed to reforest in order to capture a significant amount of CO2 and combat climate change.
To address climate change, the need for more trees emerged, and the scientific calculation determined that an area equal to the United States would need to be covered. This figure is not a joke, but the result of extensive scientific research conducted by the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich, an interdisciplinary research group specializing in the global-scale study of climate change. The study was published in the journal Science.
According to the scientists, the most effective solution would be to reforest an area of about 0.9 billion hectares in different parts of the world, equivalent to the size of the United States (983 million hectares). This would capture two-thirds of the carbon dioxide emissions produced by human activity.
The Crowther Lab not only calculated the area needed, but also identified the global areas most suitable for reforestation. Under current climatic conditions, the planet could support 4.4 billion hectares of continuous tree cover, compared to the current 2.8 billion hectares. Consequently, 1.6 billion hectares would be needed, of which 0.9 billion hectares would be devoted exclusively to forests unaffected by human activity. Upon reaching maturity, these trees could store 205 billion tons of CO2, corresponding to two-thirds of the total emissions caused by human activity.
The analysis also identified six countries with the greatest potential for reforestation, including Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil and China. Russia ranks first with 151 million hectares, followed by the United States with 103 million and Canada with 78.4 million.
