Good news: a study by The Nature Conservancy projects that “the conservation, restoration, and improved management of land in order to increase carbon storage or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in landscapes worldwide – can provide up to 37 percent of the emission reductions needed by 2030 to keep global temperatures under that 2°C mark”
This means while we are transforming our food and energy systems for necessary emission reductions on a large scale, we can greatly reduce existing pollution and greenhouse gases by planting and nurturing the vegetation that naturally draws carbon out of our air and back into the ground where we need it.
This is not just trees, but also wetlands (mangrove forests store up to 5 x as much carbon as land forests) and replacing shallow-root plants like grass with deep-rooted plants around our buildings and homes. The picture below is a good reminder of the type of plants that best advance the goal here.
The bottom line is that we individuals play a huge role in helping our health, home and earth by eating a plant-based diet, and planting and preserving carbon-extractors all around us. Plants are here to help. Humans need to let them.
