<story><title>Trees Could Change the Climate More Than Scientists Thought</title><url>https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/10/how-forests-affect-climate-change/572770/?single_page=true</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wlib</author><text>This is extremely obvious and it&amp;#x27;s surprising how long it took for this to be noticed. If you clear a section of a forest, the area becomes as hot as a desert because of the lack of shade. This is a &amp;quot;microclimate&amp;quot;. The more area you clear, the larger this hot microclimate becomes. This is the reason why there is desertification all over the globe.&lt;p&gt;Whether you believe it or not, it is just as easy to create a desert from a forest as it is to do the reverse [1], it can even be a passive process [2]. Deserts rain occasionally, and when they do, it becomes a flash flood. If you tame the flash flood [3][5], you can change deserts. There are projects that do this and have proven its effectiveness, while also being able to solve the water crisis in arid lands in Africa [6].&lt;p&gt;Trees are incredibly important not necessarily for their reduction of carbon dioxide, but because of the microclimate each tree creates. They filter harsh light for the undergrowth, they cool the general area, and they transpire around 99% of the water they get, leading to more clouds and then more precipitation in other areas [4].&lt;p&gt;The reason why projects like this aren&amp;#x27;t so popular and aren&amp;#x27;t subsidized is not because they aren&amp;#x27;t effective, but because it is hard to make money from actually saving the environment.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;3RqsUD6fyGk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;3RqsUD6fyGk&lt;/a&gt;
[2]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;ZSPkcpGmflE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;ZSPkcpGmflE&lt;/a&gt;
[3] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;zqKaRg3GTqg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;zqKaRg3GTqg&lt;/a&gt;
[4] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencemag.org&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;trees-amazon-make-their-own-rain&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencemag.org&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;trees-amazon-make-th...&lt;/a&gt;
[5] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;_4oKKs8FfI0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;_4oKKs8FfI0&lt;/a&gt;
[6] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;thewaterproject.org&amp;#x2F;sand-dams&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;thewaterproject.org&amp;#x2F;sand-dams&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>NeedMoreTea</author><text>We used to know this. Almost every road and housing development included parks, verges and trees, enough to influence the micro climate. Roads and rail often had more space for greenery than purpose. There used to be enough of the natural environment left that you still knew where you were. Parks were more arboretum and public garden than the lowest maintenance acres of grass they have tended to become today.&lt;p&gt;Post war became concrete and optimisation of how many plots you could pack in. First things to go were anything green. The temperature difference between the two approaches is easily noticeable. UK railways and towns are still reducing the amount of trees - mainly to eliminate the need to send some contractors out occasionally to tend to trees and bushes.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s yet another case of humanity sawing the branch they&amp;#x27;re sitting on for $2 more.&lt;p&gt;The silliest part is the older developments, even former public social housing, are now often the valuable areas as they are nicer to live in.</text></comment>
<story><title>Trees Could Change the Climate More Than Scientists Thought</title><url>https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/10/how-forests-affect-climate-change/572770/?single_page=true</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wlib</author><text>This is extremely obvious and it&amp;#x27;s surprising how long it took for this to be noticed. If you clear a section of a forest, the area becomes as hot as a desert because of the lack of shade. This is a &amp;quot;microclimate&amp;quot;. The more area you clear, the larger this hot microclimate becomes. This is the reason why there is desertification all over the globe.&lt;p&gt;Whether you believe it or not, it is just as easy to create a desert from a forest as it is to do the reverse [1], it can even be a passive process [2]. Deserts rain occasionally, and when they do, it becomes a flash flood. If you tame the flash flood [3][5], you can change deserts. There are projects that do this and have proven its effectiveness, while also being able to solve the water crisis in arid lands in Africa [6].&lt;p&gt;Trees are incredibly important not necessarily for their reduction of carbon dioxide, but because of the microclimate each tree creates. They filter harsh light for the undergrowth, they cool the general area, and they transpire around 99% of the water they get, leading to more clouds and then more precipitation in other areas [4].&lt;p&gt;The reason why projects like this aren&amp;#x27;t so popular and aren&amp;#x27;t subsidized is not because they aren&amp;#x27;t effective, but because it is hard to make money from actually saving the environment.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;3RqsUD6fyGk&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;3RqsUD6fyGk&lt;/a&gt;
[2]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;ZSPkcpGmflE&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;ZSPkcpGmflE&lt;/a&gt;
[3] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;zqKaRg3GTqg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;zqKaRg3GTqg&lt;/a&gt;
[4] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencemag.org&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;trees-amazon-make-their-own-rain&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.sciencemag.org&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;08&amp;#x2F;trees-amazon-make-th...&lt;/a&gt;
[5] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;_4oKKs8FfI0&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;youtu.be&amp;#x2F;_4oKKs8FfI0&lt;/a&gt;
[6] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;thewaterproject.org&amp;#x2F;sand-dams&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;thewaterproject.org&amp;#x2F;sand-dams&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>rapnie</author><text>&amp;gt; The reason why projects like this aren&amp;#x27;t so popular and aren&amp;#x27;t subsidized is not because they aren&amp;#x27;t effective, but because it is hard to make money from actually saving the environment.&lt;p&gt;This. I&amp;#x27;ve been hearing for 30 years how important trees are, and that we should plant way more of them. It is just not happening in any significant way. Politician&amp;#x27;s talk.&lt;p&gt;Makes me feel old and tired, when I keep reading this same conclusion over and over, and &amp;quot;We should take action now&amp;quot;, but nothing much happens on the action side.</text></comment>