Published

2 years ago

June 27, 2024

Alice Rush

Tree-planting has been hailed as a solution to climate change. But how much can trees really do to tackle global warming? See our research here: https://econ.st/32HXvXY

Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: https://econ.st/2xvTKdy

Summer 2019 – More than 38,000 fires raged across the Amazon. Fires that were man-made. Over the past 50 years almost 17% of the world’s largest rainforest has been cleared. And globally deforestation has almost doubled in just five years.

Since the start of human civilisation it’s estimated that the number of trees around the world has fallen by almost half. Clearing forests increases carbon-dioxide levels but planting them could store away some of the carbon already in the atmosphere.

This woman runs safaris in England. Guests are not only here to see wild animals – they’re here to see wild trees.

Almost 20 years ago Isabella Tree—yes that is her real name-handed 1,400 hectares of Sussex farmland back to nature, by doing, well nothing. She thinks this is the best way to use the land to help tackle climate change.

To stabilise the climate global carbon emissions need to drop to net zero by 2050. Simon Lewis is a professor of global change science.

And there’s never been more global ambition to plant trees. In 2014, 51 countries pledged to plant over 3.5m square kilometres of forest by 2030 – an area slightly larger than India. The 2030 target looks likely to be met. But there’s a catch…

Monoculture tree plantations like eucalyptus grow quickly but the trees are harvested every ten or so years releasing much of the carbon stored in the tree back into the atmosphere – which means that, according to some studies they’ll store only around one-fortieth of the carbon natural forests do over the long term.

In fact, those pledges to plant millions of trees actually promise to store 26bn tonnes less carbon than they could. Sometimes the motives for planting forests are less green than they might appear. By 2020 Ireland ought to have cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 20% below 2005 levels. But at current rates it will have reduced them by only 5%. Planting forests might help Ireland avoid massive penalties for missing EU targets because the potential carbon these forests could store in the future can be counted as a carbon credit today. In the 1920s Ireland had the lowest forest cover in Europe at around 1%. That’s now risen to 11% and the government has set a target to cover 18% of the land with forest by 2046.

And now local community groups are protesting against these monoculture tree plantations. They say they’re doing more harm than good.

Tree-planting programmes invariably have an impact on the people living nearby. In east Africa one project is demonstrating what can be achieved
when there’s genuine buy-in from the local communities. Green Ethiopia is a mixed-tree planting charity.

The land is communally owned and co-operatives of local women receive benefits for planting trees which are protected from being harvested. Here conserving is just as important as planting. Green Ethiopia assesses whether the condition of the land is good enough to regenerate by itself. When it is—on about a third of the area the charity runs they leave it alone. Just like Isabella Tree, back in England.

Monoculture plantations are often preferred because they make money. So some experts are looking to a future where carbon payments could create financial incentives for natural forests. Ultimately though, the trouble with trees tackling climate change is space

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXkbdELr4EQ

Climate Change Videos

How airlines can halve their climate impact

Published

1 week ago

December 21, 2025

Alice Rush

See how much you can rinse Nebula in 3 days: https://go.nebula.tv/simonclark

For many of us in the West, aviation is a huge chunk of our climate impact, and most of the impact of any given flight doesn’t even come from its carbon emissions. Fortunately, new analysis and field tests indicate that this impact can be mitigated quickly, cheaply, and safely.

If you wanted a message to send to your airline, perhaps something like the following?
“Hello [AIRLINE], I am one of your customers. Do you incorporate contrail avoidance into your flight routing or are you planning to take part in one of the many trials in contrail avoidance? Here’s a website explaining how easy and effective it is: contrails.org”.

REFERENCES
1. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-footprint-travel-mode
2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-62240071
3. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2634-4505/ad310c
4. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.9b05608
5. https://notebook.contrails.org/the-cost-of-contrail-management/
6. https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/the-seventh-carbon-budget/
7. https://www.iata.org/en/iata-repository/pressroom/fact-sheets/fact-sheet—alternative-fuels/
8. http://contrails.org/
9. http://map.contrails.org/

You can support the channel by becoming a patron at http://www.patreon.com/simonoxfphys

———- II ———-

More about me – https://www.simonoxfphys.com/
My second channel – https://www.youtube.com/simonclarkerrata
My book – https://geni.us/firmament

Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/simonoxfphys.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/simonoxfphys
Twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/drsimonclark

———- II ———-

Music by Epidemic Sound: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Some stock footage courtesy of Getty.
Edited by Luke Negus.
Research by Ian Campbell.

Huge thanks to my supporters on Patreon:

bitreign33 , Dave Teare, Eric A Gentzler, Gary Stark, Glen Monks, Marcus Bosshard.

Andy Hartley, Artem Plotnikov, Bastian Pranzas, Ben Curtis, Jeffry ., Jon Arlov, Marius Kießling, Paul H and Linda L, Peter Reid.

Adam Gillard, Adrian Sand, Alex, Alex Hall, Andrea De Mezzo, Andy Giesen, Andy Parr, Anže Cesar, Ashley Hauck, Ashley Steel, AYS , Baerbel Winkler, Bill Keydel, Brian Moss, Chris Laslett, Christian Weckner, Christopher Hall, Cifer, Ciotka Cierpienia, Circuitrinos, Claudia Kapp, Clemens, Cody VanZandt, Crisan Talpes, Cy ‘kkm’ K’Nelson, Dan Hanvey, Daniel Cooney, David Mccann, David Stone, Denis Kovachev, Diederik Jekel, Dominik Rihak, Duffman, FireFerretDann, flakykilowatt, Florian Thie, Forever Bulking, Fred, Gabriele Siino, GGH, Guy Markey, Hannarrrr, Haris Karimjee, Heijde, I dropped out of my PhD, & I might forgive Simon., Ian Hamilton, Igor Francetic, Ishaan Shah, j51t, Jack Fretwell, Jacob Speelman, James Gaskell, James Gurney, James Haigh, James Leadbetter, Jan-Willem Goedmakers, Jean-Manuel Izaret, John, Josef Probst, Joseph , Justin Warren, Katharina Hartmuth, Kevin B, Kirsten Athome, KJ Xiao, Knut Nesheim, Kristopher Sicari, Lach Woods, Leonard Neamtu, Marcin Wrochna, Mark Harper, Mark Moore, Mark Phillips, Mark Richardson, Martin, Matthew H, Mercure, Michael Belde, Michelle Valentinova, Miguel Cabrera Brufau, Mike, Morten Engsvang, Nathan Rohrlach, Nicholas Hamdorf, Nick Humphries, Nicklas Kulp, Nico Casal, Nico Kempe, OldGreyWolf, Oliver Pelling-Matthews, Pawel Piwek, Peter Lee, Phil Saici, Philipp Legner, Phineas, Rapssack, Real Engineering, Reid, Richard Swain, Ryan, Sean Richards, Seb Stott, Sergio Diaz, Simone, Steffan , streetlights, Sylvus , szigyi, Tanner , Ted CLAY, Thibault , Thomas Charbonnel, Thomas Newman, Thusto , Tobias Ahsbahs, Tom Painter, Tomás Garnier Artiñano, Tony, Tschäff Reisberg, Victor Gordan, Yorick Droz, Zoey O’Neill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoOVqQ5sa08

Climate Change Videos

Al Gore just said the quiet part out loud

Published

4 weeks ago

December 1, 2025

Alice Rush

Watch this video on Nebula ad-free and get 50% an annual subscription at https://go.nebula.tv/simonclark

Now the dust has settled, it’s time to talk about COP30. Good COP? Or bad COP?

You can support the channel by becoming a patron at http://www.patreon.com/simonoxfphys

———- II ———-

More about me – https://www.simonoxfphys.com/
My second channel – https://www.youtube.com/simonclarkerrata
My book – https://geni.us/firmament

Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/simonoxfphys.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/simonoxfphys
Twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/drsimonclark

———- II ———-

Music by Epidemic Sound: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Some stock footage courtesy of Getty.
Edited by Luke Negus.
Research by Ian Campbell.

Huge thanks to my supporters on Patreon:

bitreign33 , Dave Teare, Eric A Gentzler, Gary Stark, Glen Monks, Marcus Bosshard.

Andy Hartley, Artem Plotnikov, Bastian Pranzas, Ben Curtis, Jeffry ., Jon Arlov, Marius Kießling, Paul H and Linda L, Peter Reid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loTNEhca8wQ

Climate Change Videos

The worst month of climate news in my entire career

Published

2 months ago

November 4, 2025

Alice Rush

Want to restore the planet’s ecosystems and see your impact in monthly videos? The first 100 people to join Planet Wild with my code SIMON10 will get the first month for free at: https://planetwild.com/r/simonclark/join
If you want to get to know them better first, check out their project using beehive fences to protect elephants and humans: https://planetwild.com/r/simonclark/m10

This month has been really tough. Let’s talk about why, and how we talk about climate in general. Oh, and how I’ve been staying sane. (?)

My monthly newsletter: https://www.simonoxfphys.com/newsletter

You can support the channel by becoming a patron at http://www.patreon.com/simonoxfphys

REFERENCES
1. https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-greenhouse-gases-wmo-un-708c3d35ce6fc3d3bcaccafdba6bba45
2. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/15/record-leap-in-co2-fuels-fears-of-accelerating-global-heating
3. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/28/change-course-now-humanity-has-missed-15c-climate-target-says-un-head
4. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2025-10/state-of-climate-action-2025.pdf
5. https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/090d2fbb-32a6-412b-a3b8-1ce5c5905df2
6. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/super-warming-methane-gas-is-being-tackled-too-slowly-un-says-ahead-cop30-2025-10-22/
7. https://global-tipping-points.org/about-us/
8. https://livingplanet.panda.org/en-GB/
9. https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/global-banking-climate-group-collapses-after-us-policy-shift-q6szfdjkh

———- II ———-

More about me – https://www.simonoxfphys.com/
My second channel – https://www.youtube.com/simonclarkerrata
My book – https://geni.us/firmament

Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/simonoxfphys.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/simonoxfphys
Twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/drsimonclark

———- II ———-

Music by Epidemic Sound: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Some stock footage courtesy of Getty.
Edited by Luke Negus.

Huge thanks to my supporters on Patreon:
bitreign33 , Dave Teare, dryfrog, Eric A Gentzler, Gary Stark, Glen Monks, Marcus Bosshard.

Andy Hartley, Artem Plotnikov, Bastian Pranzas, Jeffry ., Jon Arlov, Marius Kießling, Paul H and Linda L, Peter Reid.

Adam Gillard, Adrian Sand, Alex, Alex Hall, Andrea De Mezzo, Andy Giesen, Andy Parr, Anže Cesar, Ashley Hauck, Ashley Steel, AYS , Baerbel Winkler, Bill Keydel, Brian Moss, Chris Laslett, Christian Weckner, Christopher Hall, Cifer, Ciotka Cierpienia, Circuitrinos, Claudia Kapp, Clemens, Cody VanZandt, Crisan Talpes, Cy ‘kkm’ K’Nelson, Dan Hanvey, Daniel Cooney, David Mccann, David Stone, Denis Kovachev, Diederik Jekel, Dominik Rihak, Duffman, FireFerretDann, flakykilowatt, Florian Thie, Fred, Gabriele Siino, GGH, Hannarrrr, Haris Karimjee, Heijde, I dropped out of my PhD, & I might forgive Simon., Ian Hamilton, Igor Francetic, Ishaan Shah, j51t, Jacob Speelman, James Gaskell, James Gurney, James Haigh, James Leadbetter, Jan-Willem Goedmakers, Jean-Manuel Izaret, John, Josef Probst, Joseph , Justin Warren, Katharina Hartmuth, Kevin B, Kirsten Athome, KJ Xiao, Knut Nesheim, Kristopher Sicari, Lach Woods, Leonard Neamtu, Marcin Wrochna, Mark Harper, Mark Moore, Mark Phillips, Mark Richardson, Martin, Mercure, Michael Belde, Michelle Valentinova, Miguel Cabrera Brufau, Mike, Morten Engsvang, Nathan Rohrlach, Nicholas Hamdorf, Nick Humphries, Nicklas Kulp, Nico Casal, Nico Kempe, OldGreyWolf, Pawel Piwek, Peter Lee, Phil Saici, Philipp Legner, Phineas, Rapssack, Real Engineering, Reid, Richard Swain, Ryan, Sean Richards, Seb Stott, Sergio Diaz, Simone, Steffan , streetlights, Sylvus , szigyi, Tanner , Ted CLAY, Thibault , Thomas Charbonnel, Thomas Newman, Thusto , Tobias Ahsbahs, Tom Painter, Tomás Garnier Artiñano, Tschäff Reisberg, Victor Gordan, Yorick Droz, Zoey O’Neill.