I’ve recently seen a few stories promoting the use of widespread tree planting as a way to absorb carbon and reduce greenhouse gases. But if you do the numbers, we can never plant enough trees to absorb all the greenhouse gases that are being emitted, much less the excess that is already in the atmosphere. In addition, planting trees in places that were previous not forests can do great ecological harm and can waste a lot of resources when the newly-planted trees die because they were not planted in appropriate places. This article from Popular Science provides more details about why tree-planting is not always a good solution for dealing with greenhouse gases, especially when it is done in the wrong place or with the wrong varieties of trees.
