By: Joy Odor/Kaduna
A Director, at the WomenHood Foundation School of Health Sciences, Mallam Nurudden Bello has said that tree planting remains one of the most cost-effective ways of addressing climate change, as trees and forests play a vital role in regulating climate, since they absorb carbon dioxide.
Mallam Bello who stated this in his write up and posted on Facebook informed that deforestation, by contrast, accounts for over 20% of the carbon dioxide humans generate, rivaling emissions from other sources.
According to him, “when you plant trees, you don’t just make it as your own property or your community to be nicer but you also directly reduce your carbon footprint to a large extent, trees eat carbon dioxide”.
“With carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from burning fossil fuels, bushfires and deforestation accumulating in the atmosphere, tropical forests are a good way to soak the stuff out of the air but we keep chopping them down, millions of hectares every year”.
The Director noted that Scientists have estimated that reducing tropical deforestation, expanding the tropical forest area and restoring degraded tropical forests could cut net carbon emissions by more than 18 billion tonnes of CO2 per year, the equivalent of nearly half of current annual global CO2 emissions.
Mallam Bello continue to mention that trees play a crucial role in providing a range of products and services to rural and urban populations, including food, timber, fibre, medicines and energy as well as soil fertility, water and biodiversity conservation.
He empathized that a mature tree helps to reduce runoff in urban setting as rainwater falls, much of it gets picked up by trees, preventing it from ending up in storm drains.
“On average, a mature tree can absorb up to 1,000 gallons of rainfall that would otherwise need to be pumped and filtered, requiring additional energy.
African Climatologist also reveals that “you can also plant trees in a way to help you save energy and generate even less carbon to your environment”.
“Trees absorb ozone, which is an potent greenhouse gas. While ozone is helpful high up in the stratosphere, terrestrial production of the growth magnifies global climate change. Technically, this benefit doesn’t reduce your carbon footprint, but its impact is the same”.
“The shade for a single tree can save the same amount of energy as what 10 room-size air conditioners need to run for 20 hours a day”.
The Director concluded that using trees to provide windbreaks around your house can reduce your heating bill and the attendant energy consumption by 20 to 50 percent per year
