American scientists from Clark University have discovered that planting trees in the wrong places can contribute to global warming, which in turn can increase climate change. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Nature Communications (NatComms).
Trees absorb carbon dioxide, and planting saplings to restore degraded forests or increase forest cover is one of the tools to combat climate change.
But the paper suggests that in some cases, more trees mean less solar energy will be reflected from the Earth’s surface.
For the first time, scientists have taken into account the effect of albedo (the amount of solar radiation reflected from our planet) in their calculations. They found that the cooling effect of new forest plantings could be reduced by 20-80% due to changes in albedo.
According to the research, converting temperate grasslands and savannas into forests will increase the warming of the Earth by reducing the albedo of these areas.
Experts have named the Amazon and Congo forests as the best places for reforestation projects.
Previous scientists I learnedbrown bears are destroying man-made forests.