Climate change is a global challenge. One way to fight it is by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. New research shows that trees planted in China have helped in this fight.
A recent study in the journal Nature shows that the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed (吸收) by new forests in two parts of China is more than we thought. These areas are in the northeastern Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces and the southwestern Yunnan and Guizhou provinces and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. They make up about 35 percent of China's land-based (基于陆地的) carbon sinks (碳汇). A carbon sink is a natural area like a forest or ocean that absorbs more-carbon dioxide than it emits (排放). Carbon sinks help to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
China's goal is to peak (达到峰值) its CO2 emissions (排放) before 2030 and reach carbon neutrality (中和) by 2060, Xinhua reported. Carbon neutrality refers to removing as much CO2 as one puts into the air.
According to study co-author Yi Liu at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, "the afforestation (植树造林) activities described in our Nature paper will play a role in reaching that goal. "
