Do trees affect climate change or are they affected by it?

Weather of Arabia - Over the course of 200 years, the planet's temperature has increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius, which has led scientists to already fear for human health and other parts of nature .

Notes made by a farmer in the last century help climate researchers learn about the effects of climate change on trees

During the research and study, climate researchers found detailed notes made by a farmer named Thomas Mixell between 1883 and 1912 that helped them know some of the effects of climate change on nature in general and tree growth in particular . Mixell took detailed notes of his native trees and how they grow in each season and noted the amount of rain and temperature in his hometown of Wesson, Ohio each day. Some scientists from Ohio State University compared these observations with other observations made between 2010-2014 in the same region .

Climate change will not only affect the growth rate of trees, but will also have a significant impact on the type of trees and where they grow

Professor Kellin Kalinger-Yuk monitored seven different species of hardwood trees and noticed that the leaves remained on the trees about 15% longer than they did in the 19th century . Professor Killeen said things are not the way they used to be - they are profoundly different. "A whole month of extending the growing season is a long period of time when we're talking about significant changes that have occurred over a very short period of time ," she added. Eventually, I noticed that some species kept their leaf color longer in the fall, while others budded earlier in the spring. It is also known that climate change will not only affect the growth rate of trees, but will also have a significant impact on the type of trees that will grow and where they will be located. As a result of climate change, some tree species will change their ranges and migrate to natural environments in which they would not normally grow .

How do trees positively affect climate change?

On the other hand, scientists confirmed that trees have a role in mitigating the effects of climate change on nature. Researchers in the US and Colombia found that the biophysical properties of trees can increase the cooling effect of forests by about 0.5°C. And as a solution to the problem of global warming, “revving devastated farmland could be a powerful tool for pulling carbon out of the atmosphere,” according to ecologist and professor Tom Crowther, of Switzerland's ETH Zürich University. This measure is a potential reform that is already being taken seriously by governments and institutions around the world. In July of the previous year, the Biden administration had announced that the US government aimed to plant more than a billion trees to replace millions of acres of burned and dead forests. The US Department of Agriculture said in a statement that the US government has committed more than $100 million to reforestation in 2022, which is more than three times the investment in previous years .

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