Bio-precipitation

Photo: Amazon forest & water cycle by David Shaw
Did you know that trees contribute to releasing microscopic nuclei needed for cloud formation? Over major tropical rainforests across the world one finds rather dense cloud formations. Clouds are formed by water vapor condensing around these microscopic nuclei. Trees increase the water vapor content of the air significantly - approximately 50% of all transpiration comes from forests. Plants and leaf surface are naturally colonized by micro-organisms or bacteria , also called epiphytes, whose surface properties give them the possibility to interact with atmospheric water, helping it to condense (form clouds) and to freeze (form rain). These micro-organisms get into the atmosphere through turbulent movements linked to heat flux. Clouds, in turn, have a high albedo effect, which means they reflect the sun's radiation back into space. The more low altitude clouds created through this natural system, the faster we could potentially cool our planet. There is a lot of research being conducted around this space at the moment, and looks to be very promising for our climate issues.

 

Permaculture

Photo: Simple watering system for young tree
Forests must be planted sustainably. This is made possible by using permaculture, which encompasses much more than food forestry and is both a philosophy and a proven approach to designing natural environments that have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems. It combines modern science with traditional wisdom, leveraging as much as possible from nature for the biggest benefit of the environment, local population and biodiversity.
For more on permaculture please click here.

Carbon Absorption

Imagine the carbon in this 2000 year old jequitibà!
Trees are beneficial for the climate thanks to the carbon they absorb. Can you consider yourself carbon neutral if you plant enough trees to compensate for your carbon emissions? It depends where and how the trees are planted. According to the United Nations, ( Kyoto protocole ) the forests must be planted in developing countries not constrained to carbon emission reductions, be additional and have no negative impact on local communities. It is also important to understand what will happen to the trees once they are mature so that the carbon is not just postponed but really captured in the long run. The best carbon is the one that is avoided. Offsetting should be part of a company's (or person's) drive to become carbon-neutral and should only happen after having assessed and avoided CO2 emissions as much as possible.
How much carbon can a tree absorb? Again it depends on the kind of tree and the local climate. We believe that taking decades to offset carbon you emitted now is not responsible. We use following numbers in some of our projects: one ton of CO2 can be absorbed by 32.5 trees over a period of 4 years. Our calculations are very conservative and include a 50% buffer for natural and other risks, as recommended by IPCC.