"In Arctic regions, afforestation can accelerate warming rather than slow it down, warns a new study. Instead of planting trees, researchers recommend preserving open tundra and large herbivores.
Trees are generally regarded as helpers in the fight against climate change. Their ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere makes reforestation or afforestation a popular natural and cost-effective climate protection measure that is often used to offset emissions. But how effective is this method at slowing down global warming?
A new study published in Nature Geoscience in November 2024 shows that In high northern latitudes, this measure can have a counterproductive effect – and even accelerate warming.
An international research team led by the Universities of Cambridge and Aarhus and involving the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources has investigated the climatic consequences of afforestation in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The conclusion is clear: the special ecological characteristics of these landscapes – characterized by tundra, peatland and boreal forests – make them unsuitable for large-scale tree plantations in the interests of climate protection.
“Soils in the Arctic store more carbon than all vegetation on Earth,” explains Jeppe Kristensen, assistant professor at Aarhus University and lead author of the study, in a university press release. “These soils are vulnerable to disturbances, such as cultivation for forestry or agriculture, but also the penetration of tree roots.”
If the top layer of soil is broken up, for example by planting trees, stored carbon can escape into the atmosphere in the form of CO2 and thus increase global warming."
For the full article, by Julia Hager, click here.
The recent study entitled "Tree planting is no climate solution at northern high latitudes" and published in the Nature Geoscience journal is co-authored by researchers from several UArctic member institutions among others: Aarhus University, the Agricultural University of Iceland, the Scott Polar Research Institute, and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources.