Trees Reveal Climate Surprise: Bark Removes Methane from the Atmosphere
Trees Reveal Climate Surprise: Bark Removes Methane from the Atmosphere
The methane absorption was strongest in the tropical forests, probably because microbes thrive in the warm wet conditions found there.
It’s long been thought that soil is the only effective terrestrial methane sink, as certain microorganisms use methane as a food source, but similar creatures live under a tree’s layer of bark, meaning that not only do our woody cousins withdraw CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in their roots, but also remove methane as well, about as effectively or perhaps more so than soil.
It might just be a good idea to reduce our land use so we could have more trees.
This is something I’ve become interested in recently. How do we build dense cities that still have high tree cover? I don’t want to live in a barren, dead land with no plants, but the destruction caused by suburban sprawl is undeniable.
I think it’s possible but it requires a careful design. I’m curious if there are any examples of this being done successfully.