Showerthought: I learned that planting trees in the wrong spot can actually make climate change worse

Was reading a paper on reforestation projects last night and found out that if you plant trees in places like grasslands or savannas that don't normally have them, it can actually warm the planet instead of cooling it. Something about the dark leaves absorbing more heat than the lighter grass used to reflect. Found the stat on a site called CarbonPlan. It said like 30% of current offset projects might be doing more harm than good. Has anyone else run into this whole 'wrong tree, wrong place' thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

emmap1615d agoMost Upvoted

The 30% stat from CarbonPlan lines up with something I noticed in my neighborhood last summer. My city started a big tree planting program along main streets, but they put in rows of dark leafed maples right over asphalt and concrete. The ground temp near those trees is way hotter than the older oaks that have lighter bark and let more sun through the cracks. It reminds me of how people buy trendy skincare products without checking their skin type, just assuming more is better. We keep thinking one solution fits everywhere, but nature is way more local than that.

leep3315d ago

Yeah I gotta admit I was one of those guys who thought any tree anywhere was a good thing. My whole view changed after I read about the albedo effect - that's the fancy term for how much sunlight bounces off the ground. Dark leaves suck up heat, light grass reflects it back. Simple physics but I never put it together with tree planting before. Now I check the local ecosystem before I plant anything, even in my own yard. That 30% number hit me hard because it means millions of dollars and volunteer hours are going into projects that might backfire.