Trees are important tools in the fight

to stave off global warming, because

they absorb and store the key

greenhouse gas emitted

by our cars and power plants,

carbon dioxide (CO2), before it has a

chance to reach the upper atmosphere

where it can help trap heat around the

Earth’s surface.

"There are literally dozens of tree

species that could be planted depending

upon location, climate and soils,”

says Stan Wullschleger, a researcher

at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National

Laboratory who specializes in the physiological

response of plants to global climate change.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy

(DOE), tree species that grow quickly and live

long are ideal carbon sinks. Unfortunately,

these two attributes are usually mutually

exclusive. Given the choice, foresters

interested in maximizing the absorption

and storage of CO2

(known as “carbon sequestration”)

usually favor younger trees that grow

more quickly than their older cohorts.

However, slower growing trees can

store much more carbon over their

significantly longer lives.

Scientists are busy studying the

carbon sequestration potential of

different types of trees in various

parts of the U.S., including

Eucalyptus in Hawaii, loblolly pine in

the Southeast, bottomland hardwoods

in Mississippi, and poplars in the

Great Lakes.

Dave Nowak, a researcher at the U.S. Forest

Service’s Northern Research Station in

Syracuse, New York has studied the use of trees

for carbon sequestration in urban settings across

the United States. A 2002 study he co-authored lists

the Common Horse-chestnut, Black Walnut,

American Sweetgum, Ponderosa Pine, Red Pine,

White Pine, London Plane, Hispaniolan Pine,

Douglas Fir, Scarlet Oak, Red Oak, Virginia Live Oak

and Bald Cypress as examples of trees especially good

at absorbing and storing CO2. Nowak advises

urban land managers to avoid trees that

require a lot of maintenance, as the burning

of fossil fuels to power equipment like

trucks and chainsaws will only erase

the carbon absorption gains otherwise made.

Ultimately, trees of any shape, size

or genetic origin help absorb CO2.

Most scientists agree that the least

expensive and perhaps easiest way for

individuals to help offset the CO2

that they generate in their everyday

lives is to plant a tree…any tree, as

long as it is appropriate for the given

region and climate. Those who wish to

help larger tree planting efforts can

donate money or time to the

National Arbor Day Foundation

or American Forests in the U.S.

author: EarthTalk

American Forests,

www.americanforests.org;

National Arbor Day Foundation,

www.arborday.org;

  Combat Global Warming

N A T U R A L  B O R N  P L A N E T

While all living plant matter absorbs CO2 as

part of photosynthesis, trees process

significantly more than smaller plants due

to their large sizeand extensive root structures.

In essence, trees, as kings of the plant world, have

much more “woody biomass” to store CO2 than smaller plants, and as a result are considered nature’s mosTefficient “carbon sinks.”

“There are literally dozens of tree

species that could be planted depending

upon location, climate and soils,”

.

     ...the Common Horse-chestnut, Black Walnut, American Sweetgum, Ponderosa Pine, Red Pine, White Pine, London Plane, Hispaniolan Pine, Douglas Fir, Scarlet Oak, Red Oak, Virginia Live Oak and Bald Cypress as examples of trees especially good at absorbing and storing CO2.