{"id":2000,"date":"2025-01-09T23:28:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T04:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/?p=2000"},"modified":"2025-04-18T13:54:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T17:54:18","slug":"new-maps-show-where-tree-restoration-might-help-curb-climate-effects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/new-maps-show-where-tree-restoration-might-help-curb-climate-effects\/","title":{"rendered":"Where tree restoration heats the Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Restoring tree cover sounds as if it would help cool the Earth. But sometimes it can actually heat it up by affecting how much sunlight the surface reflects \u2014 an effect called \u201cthe albedo.\u201d Two Clark researchers have provided a tool\u202fthat practitioners and land managers can use to determine just how much of a problem albedo is for any reforestation or afforestation project on the globe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Sorting out \u201cthe good climate solutions from the bad\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with their peers from The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and ETH-Zurich, Natalia Hasler, a research scientist at the George Perkins Marsh Institute, and\u202fChristopher Williams<\/a>, associate professor in the Graduate School of Geography, use new maps to show that previously published \u201ccarbon-only\u201d estimates of the global climate mitigation potential of restoring trees worldwide provided significant overestimation, being anywhere from 20 to 81 percent too high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe balance of carbon storage versus albedo change that comes from restoring tree cover varies from place to place, but until now we didn\u2019t have the tools to tell the good climate solutions from the bad,\u201d Hasler says. \u201cOur study aims to change that, providing the maps needed to empower smarter decisions while also ensuring that limited finance is directed at those locations where restoring tree cover can make the most positive difference as a natural climate solution.\u201d

Their\u202fstudy was published in the journal\u202fNature Communications.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Graduate School of Geography<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
School of Climate, Environment and Society<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
George perkins marsh institute<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As efforts to restore tree cover accelerate to help avoid runaway climate change, a study by two Clark researchers highlights how restoring tree cover can, in some locations, heat up the Earth rather than cool it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"research-initiaive","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[49,41,45],"class_list":["post-2000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-highlights","tag-george-perkins-marsh-institute","tag-graduate-school-of-geography","tag-school-of-climate-environment-and-society"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere tree restoration heats the Earth | Clark University | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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