We Need To Plant 1.2 Trillion Trees To End Harmful Pollution, And Make Earth Healthy Again

There are two reasons our planet is warming so drastically; we keep putting out greenhouse gases, and we keep cutting down the trees that could help.

Luckily for us, there's a straightforward way to remedy the latter. It would just take time and money.

A new study by ETH Zurich researcher Thomas Crowther indicates we need to plant approximately 1.2 trillion new trees to offset the amount of carbon dioxide we're emitting. And we actually have space to do this!

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As Crowther told The Independent, trees are "our most powerful weapon in the fight against climate change."

He told the publication that the new analysis, which he presented at a conference this past weekend, suggests a campaign to plant trees across the world would do wonders for the environment, even more so than building wind turbines or switching to vegetarian diets

"There's 400 gigatons now, in the 3 trillion trees, and if you were to scale that up by another trillion trees that's in the order of hundreds of gigatons captured from the atmosphere - at least 10 years of anthropogenic emissions completely wiped out," he said.

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He also argues that it's more viable than modern tech based solutions that seek to build artificial systems to filter out the air. After all, anyone anywhere can buy a sapling and plant it.

"It's a beautiful thing because everyone can get involved," he said. "Trees literally just make people happier in urban environments, they improve air quality, water quality, food quality, ecosystem service, it's such an easy, tangible thing."