 INCHEON -The United Nations (UN) Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has revealed that planting more trees and forests could help to check the levels of global warming. This report was released by the United Nations on 12, July 2019 in Incheon South Korea. According to panel, the world is already warming by 1 degree Celsius and this is nearing the 1.5 degree Celsius limit which scientists have warned to have very dire effects. “There is no time for delay, we have to alter course immediately; no longer can we say the window for action will close soon we are here now,” the report warns. The IPCC further advises that one billion hectares of forest need to be planted in order to counter the high rates of carbon emissions arising out of human activities. Research from the Earth Policy Institute puts it that the world has four billion hectares of forest one billion less than the five billion hectares that existed in the pre-industrial period. The UN report has portrayed forests as a very important natural measure to counter the amount of carbon in the atmosphere without leaving any side effects. “Because forests capture and sequester carbon, reforestation could help reduce net emissions.” the report noted. However, the rates of deforestation are greatly outpacing the levels of reforestation globally. Trees are on a high demand as a source of fuel, raw materials for timber industry, as building materials and encroaching on their land for settlement and industrial set up. Among other alternative measures to global warming, the UN has highlighted the elimination of coal as a source of fuel. High global temperatures are a very big threat to communities living on islands and near water bodies like seas and oceans because they melt ice under the ground, raising water beyond levels that human beings can live with. Global warming has already had far-reaching effects, according to Scidev. Net scientists have warned that if a solution is not crafted as early as possible, over one thousand animal species are likely to get extinct. |
