Wake Forest University’s campus is adorned with countless trees, like Magnolias, leading many students to nickname the school “The Forest.” These trees play a crucial role in sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, helping to keep The Forest green.
Trees act as carbon sinks, taking in the carbon from the atmosphere and storing it. This ecological role helps mitigate greenhouse gas emissions largely produced by humans.
“When you think about the ecosystem service you get from one tree, it’s amazing,” said Wake Forest professor Justin Catanoso, who leads a study abroad program to the Peruvian Amazon. “Multiply that by a million trees across the Amazon, and you get an understanding of why we need to preserve that place and let it do its work to flight climate change.”
According to Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership, one mature tree absorbs about 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. Furthermore, one acre of forest absorbs about twice the amount of carbon dioxide that a car produces per year.
However, deforestation is occurring at an alarming rate. According to VOX, 17 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed. If this rate continues, 25 percent of the rainforest could be destroyed in just 15 to 30 years.
With trees becoming more important than ever, Wake Forest is doing its part in keeping trees in this Forest. In 2011, the university announced the Tree Care Plan, which raises the standards for why some trees need to be cut down. It also says that for every tree cut down on campus, another tree must be planted.
With construction of the College Academic Commons on Davis Field about to commence, trees will soon be uprooted around campus. But, with the Tree Care Plan in effect, there will also be trees planted.
However, trees are a long-term solution to climate change. It takes time before new trees efficiently and effectively sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
According to a study published in Ecology, the new forests growing in the Amazon are not as successful at pulling carbon from the atmosphere like the older forests. This raises issues because climate change is happening now, and time is running out.
Trees are best left untouched so they can perform their role in mitigating the carbon put into the atmosphere by people. So, it is also beneficial to reduce one’s own carbon footprint to alleviate the work done by trees.
“Am I hopeful? Sometimes,” said Catanoso when asked about his outlook on how climate change is addressed. He said that most people know the answers, and most of the answers are to leave nature alone.
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Reporting Index:
- Justin Catanoso, Wake Forest professor
- https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecy.2954
- https://www.vox.com/a/supertrees
- https://news.mongabay.com/2015/12/cop21-agreement-prominently-addresses-protection-of-earths-forests/
- https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/cop25-self-serving-g20-spites-youth-humanity-world-at-climate-talks/
- https://inside.wfu.edu/2019/11/the-proposed-college-academic-commons-five-qa/
Lauren Berryman 