How trees protect the Earth's climate and other important facts

It is a nice, “green” sentiment to use trees to save the Earth's climate. But how realistic is it?

In order to decide, we must first clarify how big our carbon footprint is. There are huge differences among individuals and countries in this realm. The specific amount is influenced by lifestyle and the region we come from. According to 世界银行 data, the carbon footprint of people living in countries in the Northern Hemisphere is typically larger than that of people living in the Southern: in the northern half, per capita CO2 emissions exceed 9 tons per year. Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are neck and neck leaders based on emissions per capita, while the USA, Canada and Russia are also at the forefront.

Of course, if someone lives north of the equator, they don’t automatically have a large carbon footprint; some factors involved are determined by their geographical situation. The overall picture is further complicated by the fact that the most environmentally damaging energy sources are typically used where energy consumption is the highest.

The good news is that the share of clean energy has been increasing every year, due to the rise of renewable energy sources; the share of low-emission nuclear energy, however, is not increasing. Regardless, the role of trees is universal, as they extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere regardless of where they’re living — and not a small amount. In fact, forests remove the equivalent of approximately one-third of all fossil fuel emissions. According to Trees for the Future , a tree in a tropical climate can bind an average of 22.5 kilograms of CO2 per year.

But what about the amount of carbon dioxide we emit? As mentioned above, the annual per capita emissions in the Northern Hemisphere is around 9 tons. This means that hundreds of trees are needed to neutralize the annual emissions of one human being. While that may sound like a lot, it's worth considering more carefully.

Among the European capitals, Berlin, which heads the list, has one tree for every four inhabitants, while at the other end of the list we find London, where the same ratio is 13:1 – yet no one is proclaiming that it is hopeless to fight climate change with the help of trees.

That’s because, first of all, we are fighting against it, not only via the help of urban trees, but alongside the globe’s entire tree population. Secondly, the binding effect of carbon dioxide is far from the only mechanism through which urban trees curb the climate crisis and its negative effects, as they also provide shade and cool their environment, humidify the air, keep the ground under their canopy moist, filter out particulates, and provide a favorable habitat for other species.

Thirdly, the tree-to-inhabitant ratio is not set in stone: practically all big cities are working to increase tree numbers, with the quickest action being seen in Singapore, the Asian city-state that is inspiring many others as well. Finally, at this stage of science and technology, there is neither a cheaper nor more efficient means of extracting atmospheric carbon dioxide than trees, planting more of them and maintaining the health of existing ones.

Taking all of that into consideration, when we hear about the amount of green space per capita in a city, this is far from being an abstract number: in addition to characteristics such as the energy usage of people in a given area, data on trees reveal the most on how effectively those residents are taking up the fight against climate change.

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