Could nature itself have a solution to climate change? | | Weather problems

Men 2019, my scientific research was about to end when my team and I published the alarming statement that restoring natural forests is the “best solution to climate change” in a peer-reviewed paper. Science.

I remember a friend of the World Wildlife Fund advising me that this message represents suicide. He said people are angry because reducing greenhouse gas emissions is very important. Climate change can help with 30% of our emissions needs, but you can’t stop rising temperatures without reducing emissions.

I agreed both then and now. However, I explained that when we talk about the “best” method, we don’t just mean the one with the biggest C02 impact; we meant the best way to improve people’s lives and quality of life. And this, as we will see, helps a lot to increase its value.

Many people believe that the growth of climate problems requires technological innovation, geoengineering, or changes in our economy. But with these solutions there is often a bitter trade-off. Almost every technological or geoengineering improvement you can think of is due to something.

Stratospheric aerosol injection is one example. Cloud formation can block the sun and cool the ground. But changes in sunlight and rainfall can disrupt the growth of the crops we depend on for food. Likewise, direct air capture has incredible potential to remove C02, but high economic and energy costs currently prevent it from being implemented at the level we want.

There is only one way to deal with this situation, however, which is irreversible when done right. The restoration of natural habitats such as forests is different from our climate tools because it relies on the same connections that made life possible in the first place.

The resilience of nature comes from ancient, unappreciated forces called loops. A positive feedback loop occurs when the results of a process have consequences that enhance the process itself. You can see these patterns all the time in different areas of life: for example whenever your anxiety about sleeping makes it difficult for you to wake up.

About 3.8bn to 4.2bn years ago, recent changes allowed life to spread on another dangerous and uninhabitable planet: Earth. As life became established, it began to change the environment, making it host to many species. Organisms were discovered that gave way to many species. This self-reinforcing process created an Eden that allowed our species to thrive, and provided us with the food, air, wood, medicine and fuel we needed.

But as we all know, the success of our brands has given rise to new ways of expression. Human exploitation of natural resources has led to massive population growth, which has caused global warming, causing carbon to be released from the soil, driving global warming. As forests dry out, they can retain less moisture, which causes more drying. Many cycles like this are going on, which threaten to change our world.

But as much as feedback loops can be destructive, they can be used as a way to save. They are not necessarily good or bad: they are simply agents of change. If we can work with natural minds instead of distorting them, we can benefit from their persistence.

In the Iberá National Park in Argentina, you can see an amazing example of the revival of immigrants. After decades of decay, the restoration of jaguar has reduced cattle grazing on herbivores, causing the grasslands to recover. The roots of these plants retain moisture in the soil, and their branches provide a habitat for living organisms that make this one of the most impressive wetlands – and carbon sinks – in the world. After only a few years, the birds are walking on the shore, the snails are shining in the sky and the birds are walking on the beach.

It is true that there are not always ways to solve problems based on nature. Companies have created huge carbon farms through planting single species of trees, destroying native species in the process. Drying of peatlands to reduce methane production results in higher CO2 emissions. The power of nature lies in its complexities, so trying to simplify or reform the system often leads to problems.

The risks and trade-offs tend to disappear, however, when you find one important part of the equation. From time to time, the revitalization of biodiversity in the community leads to a better quality of life, change is sustainable. Whenever people are encouraged to protect the environment around them, they become an integrated part of the ecological consciousness that can accelerate.

In the example of the Iberá wetlands, natural attraction became the engine of a new “restoration economy” employing rangers, cooks, hosts, wildlife trackers and guides. There are hundreds of such examples around the world: in Saseriin northern India, good soil management and tree rehabilitation are securing water to improve the yields of more than 1,200 farmers. A thousand miles to the southwest, in Gujarat, the native women are to restore mangroves protecting 12 coastal villages from erosion and improving the productivity of fisheries, crops and livestock.

What these projects and countless others show is that we don’t need extraordinary talent or great sacrifice to get ahead. We only need to allow a small fraction of our attention and resources (perhaps less than 1% of global GDP) to flow to rural land managers, and support their efforts. In excess, it results in hundreds of millions of tonnes of C02 being captured – but this is just the beginning of what can happen.

The dirtier the culture, the more we want it. When nature returns, it not only provides life, food security and air storage; it also inspires hope, joy and encouragement that our species desperately needs during this difficult time. Although it may seem unrelated to this point, this emotional involvement is part of life’s restoration of nature, and the ability to create their own thoughts, in the future.

Prof Thomas Crowther is an environmental scientist and author Natural Echo (edge). He is the Founder of Restor.econon-profit platform for environmental restoration sites

Another reading

The Earth: How a Good World Will Save the World by Tony Juniper (Bloomsbury, £10.99)

The Season of Truth by Mike Berners-Lee (Cambridge University Press, £14.99)

Wilding and Isabella Tree (Picador, £10.99)