Tag: carbon

Counting on 2026 … day 9

19th  January 

Tree planting is key to restoring sustainable human lifestyles within safe  Planetary Boundaries. Yet disturbingly the UK is falling g behind with its tree planting targets. 

“New analysis from the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) found that the UK is falling behind its tree planting targets, warning that the nation could miss the “critical window” for woodland creation needed to meet its climate and nature targets.

“The report found that more than 70 per cent of carbon removal from new trees up to 2050 will come from those that have been planted within the next five years. This is due to the time lag between when a tree is planted and when it has reached its peak carbon removal potential.

“However, if current planting rates are maintained, the total area of missed planting will be an area equivalent to three times the size of Greater London, with a third less carbon sequestered than on the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) Balanced Pathway. This is equivalent to all residual industrial emissions in 2050.

“The CCC Balanced Pathway is the UK’s blueprint for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, which calls for an 87 per cent emissions cut by 2040 as well as boosted efforts in renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon capture.”

https://www.euronews.com/green/2026/01/14/uk-and-eu-tree-planting-pledges-face-reality-check-as-scientists-warn-the-climate-window-i?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=green_newsletter&utm_medium=referral&insEmail=1&insNltCmpId=257&insNltSldt=10080&insPnName=euronewsfr&ins_iid=NThmY2Q3ZTQtNDc3Yi00Y2MxLWJlYzItYWViN2RiZTRjNmNk&isIns=1&isInsNltCmp=1

Counting on … day 71

21st March 2024

The carbon cycle 

The earth’s systems have various ways of absorbing and using carbon dioxide in such a way as to enable life to flourish. Plants absorb carbon dioxide as part of the process of photosynthesis storing the carbon as cellular material  in their leaves, branches etc. Plants release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere as they respire – breathe. A living growing plant absorbs more carbon dioxide than it releases. When the plant dies, the carbon that has been stored as leaves and branches etc slowly decays – breaks down – and the carbon returns to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. This is as true of water and marine plants as it is true of land plants. 

 (For a short video describing how trees absorb and use  carbon – https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/climate-change/carbon-trees/)

Soil in part is made up of dead plant and animal material which decays slowly overtime. Soil is therefore a storer of carbon.

The seas and oceans also contain carbon dioxide that is dissolved in the water. This carbon dioxide cycles through the water as marine plants take in, store and release the carbon as they grow. Marine waters  and the layers of sediment at the bottom of the seas and oceans store carbon in the same way as does soil. 

This brings us back to an earlier post about how much carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere (measured in part per million) and the rate at which that concentration is increasing due to human activities – https://greentau.org/2024/02/19/counting-on-day/