A Global Reforestation Campaign
““In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness,
to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other-
That time is now”"
-Wangari Maathai
Its time for a massive global reforestation campaign on Earth.
Trees are the most natural and most efficient ways to sequester (capture) carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and today we have an excess of CO2 in the atmosphere that hasn't been seen on Earth in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years.
Today, as of the year 2020, there are roughly 420ppm (parts per million) of CO2 in the global atmosphere. Bill McKibben, co-founder of the group 350.org and Dr James Hansen, former director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, have both stated that in order to achieve climate stability and operate a sustainable global civilization, this number needs to drastically drop to 350ppm. That means not only do we need to cut-off all carbon emissions at their source, but we also need to rapidly sequester the excess carbon that is now in our global atmosphere. Hence, the need for a massive global reforestation campaign/program worldwide to help mitigate the threat of global climate change.
A global reforestation campaign is now desperately needed to draw down the excess CO2 from the planet's atmosphere. Its time for nation states and human civilization as a whole to mobilize and help initiate a new worldwide program to plant billions of more trees all over the Earth, primarily in areas that have already experienced deforestation. A 1 trillion tree campaign to formally kick off the initiative, followed by a commitment over time to plant and preserve hundreds of billions of trees in the decade of the 2020's, is now imperative.
We must protect and defend the 10 billion acres of remaining forest on Earth from deforestation. Since 2000, the Earth's forest cover has shrunk by 13 million acres each year. On average, there are some 1.5 billion tons of carbon released into the atmosphere every year from forest loss. All global deforestation practices MUST end now. A concerted reforestation campaign, particularily in temperate regions of the planet, can drastically mitigate this loss.
Every newly planted tree seedling in the tropics removes an average of 50 kilograms of CO2 from the atmosphere every year during its growth period of between 20-50 years. By comparison, a tree planted in temperate regions only sequesters an average of 13 kilograms. Therefore, much of the afforestation and reforestation opportunity to sequester CO2 lies in tropical countries.
Billions of trees will still need to be planted on millions of acres of deforested and degraded lands that have lost their tree cover and on marginal croplands and pasteurlands that are no longer needed once humanity
shifts to a largely vegan diet. A vegan diet will preserve and protect the biosphere from the ravages of the meat and dairy industries, since the meat and dairy industries are the prime emitters of CO2 on the planet, as well as the greatest consumers of water and energy intensive grown foodstuffs such as grain and soy products used for cattle, chicken and pig feed.
A global reforestation campaign to remove atmospheric CO2 would need to be funded, organized and implemented by the rich, northern industrial nations, since it is they who are the greatest emitters of carbon. The key is moving quickly to stabilize climate before the temperatures rise to high. Average global temperature rises of between 5-10 degrees fahrenheit are predicted by 2100 if global reforestation mitigation efforts are not immediately and strategically implemented and executed, particularily now in the critical decade of the 2020's.
Wangari Maathai, Kenya's Nobel Laureate, inspired the Billion Tree Campaign that is today managed by the UN Environment Programme. By the end of 2009, over 10 billion tree seedlings have been planted. India has planted an additional 2 billion trees while China has planted 2.9 billion trees and is now today the leader of the Billion Tree Campaign. Among other leaders are Ethiopia with 1.5 billion trees planted and Turkey with 700 million trees planted.
In conclusion, trees are the most natural and most efficient means known to sequester CO2, since that is their primary food nutrient- giving off oxygen as their "waste" product. Billions of trees have already been planted worldwide since the turn of the millenium. Billions more have yet to be planted still. A global reforestation campaign, in addition to ending the global hydrocarbon economy and shifting to free energy systems- such as zero-point and antigravitic power and transportation sources, respectively- will do the most to Save Our Planet from the ravages of human civilization now teeming with 7.7 billion people as of 2020 (and growing). Planting hundreds of billions of more trees now will help ensure our survival, continuity and prosperity as a species well into the 21st century and beyond.
Steve Jones
North American Continent
American Economic Union (AEU)
Planet Earth
October 21, 2029
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