It's commonly known that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) causes global warming. The whole world has made great efforts to improve the situation. Especially, the trees planted in China are playing an important role.
A report published in Nature shows that CO2 absorption (吸收) in two new forest areas in China is more than we thought. The two areas are located in China's southwestern and northeastern provinces. They make up over 35 percent of China's carbon sinks. Carbon sinks are natural systems that absorb and store CO2 from the air. The main natural carbon sinks are trees and other plants.
According to Paul Palmer, these provinces have been working on rapid forestation (造林) in large areas. Over the past 10 to 15 years, the forest areas have kept increasing by 400-4,400 square kilometers per year.
China is one of the world's biggest countries of human-produced CO2, ▲ . In 1978,
China began a national-level forestation project. Many trees have planted in the areas of northern China to act as windbreaks. For example, about one third of the Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia is now covered with trees. In 2019, Alipay's Ant Forest program planted 122 million trees and won the UN Champions of the Earth award for helping 500 million people live low-carbon lives.
China's goal is to reach carbon neutrality by 2060. Carbon neutrality refers to removing as much CO2 as one puts into the air. If China's goal is achieved, it will lower global warming by around 0.2 to 0.3 C alone, according to Climate Action Tracker (CAT).
