The Climate Question Your questions answered: The value of trees, "black" oxygen, AI's carbon footprint
Oct 21, 2024
Join Justin Rowlatt, BBC Climate Editor, Akshat Rathi, Senior Climate Reporter at Bloomberg, and Caroline Steel, Presenter for the BBC World Service. They tackle the critical role of sequoia trees and the consequences of deforestation. Discover the astonishing 'black' oxygen found in the depths of the ocean and its links to deep-sea mining. The conversation also highlights the carbon footprint of generative AI, revealing surprising truths about its environmental impact. Get ready for an engaging discussion on climate questions from listeners!
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Deforestation's Large Climate Role
- Deforestation contributes roughly 12–20% of global emissions and releases stored carbon when trees and soil degrade or are burned.
- Removing forests also alters local climate, reducing rainfall and raising temperatures in tropical regions like the Amazon.
Old Forests Outperform Planting
- Old intact forests store far more carbon than newly planted saplings and cannot be quickly replaced by replanting.
- Cutting a mature forest creates a long carbon gap because new trees take decades to recapture lost carbon.
Saplings Took Six Years To Grow
- Caroline Steel described meeting a Romanian planter whose oak saplings were six years old and still tiny.
- The encounter highlighted how slowly trees grow and how long reforestation takes to deliver climate benefits.