Discover the fascinating Landscape Explorer, an online mapping tool that uses historical and modern aerial images to showcase the transformation of the American West’s landscapes over the past 70 years. In her article “Landscape Explorer transports you back to a more wild West” (SN: 12/2/23, p. 32), Brianna Randall delves into this captivating tool’s capabilities.
While reducing carbon emissions is crucial in addressing the climate crisis, it’s essential to recognize the additional ecosystem benefits such as biodiversity, water storage, and cultural significance, emphasizes Kelsey Molloy, a rangeland ecologist at the Nature Conservancy. Grasslands and rangelands play a significant role in carbon storage, often overlooked by many. “Grasses store carbon deep in the soil, and that carbon is not lost from fires the way [it is] in treed landscapes,” Molloy explains.
Contrary to popular belief, simply planting more trees everywhere will not necessarily combat global warming, asserts Scott Morford, an applied spatial ecologist at the University of Montana. “In snow-dominated grasslands and shrublands, there is no clear evidence that increasing tree cover contributes to climate cooling,” Morford states. Moreover, planting trees in historically treeless grasslands can have the opposite effect, potentially increasing warming by altering the land surface’s reflective properties. “In the northern Great Plains of the United States, tree cover would need to surpass 95 percent to achieve even a small net cooling effect,” Morford adds.
2024-02-03 07:15:00
Visit www.sciencenews.org for more information.