Tackling climate change may do more harm than good to the environment

Concerns have been raised by an international group of scientists that simple, rapid responses to climate change to try to offset carbon emissions could actually cause more harm to the planet.

As deforestation is seen as a major contributor to increased carbon levels in the atmosphere, a common response has been to plant trees - creating a surge in afforestation projects. However, in order to ensure that the newly planted trees are having an impact fast, homogenous and non-native species are often chosen. Whilst quick growth is assured, this response is unsustainable as they are often killed off within a season by pests or by drought.

Another issue is seen where trees are planted on areas that haven’t had previous tree growth, such as peatlands. Afforestation provides questionable benefit to the environment, in terms of the creation a new carbon sink, if the trees, in fact, reduce the functioning of an existing peatland sink as they grow.

Simple 'quick fixes' to mitigate the changing climate can cause more problems in the future, the scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded.

For more on this article, check out this BBC news report