More evidence on the mitigation value of trees

Aerial image credit: Wendy Bown

As a preamble for this post, the climate crisis calls on us to use trees and other vegetation to heal the climate. We must always remember that trees are valuable for their own worth. The policy document Te Mana o te Wai, expresses this value for water – the first priority is to value water for itself, then for human use, and then for economic uses. We disrespect the grandeur and gifts of nature if we conceptualise these gifts as “ecosystem services” or a carbon accounting transaction.

Here are a few resources that look at the value of trees beyond just being carbon receptacles.

How protecting forests can help us tackle climate change and meet net-zero targets. One Trillion Trees and the World Economic Forum.

Using Trees and Vegetation to Reduce Heat Islands United States Environmental Protection Agency

Can trees really cool our cities down? Roland Ennos in The Conversation

Transpirational cooling Wikipedia

Very cool: trees stalling effects of global heating in eastern US, study finds. Oliver Millman, The Guardian

How plants cool and heal the climate. Peter Bruce-Iri

Plants cool the planet. Biodiversity for a liveable climate.

If we only value the mitigation contribution of trees for sequestration we will continue to struggle to heal the climate. It doesn’t help that some scientists stick with a very geo-mechanical view of the world and restrict temperature impacts to factors like sequestration to reduce carbon dioxide and the albedo effect without considering the complex biological processes that cool the planet. This New Scientist article is an example.

If you have resources to add to this, please leave a comment.