A new method developed by the University of Copenhagen and NASA accurately determines how effective planting trees is for offsetting carbon emissions.<\/h2>\n

In order to somewhat counteract the CO_{2 \u00a0<\/sub>emissions they produce, various major corporations globally purchase what are known as carbon credits. Carbon credits legally enable companies to emit certain quantities of CO2 <\/sub>as long as the greenhouse gas is neutralised in another form, such as by planting or not cutting down trees.<\/p>\n}

However, it is especially hard to track the billions of trees worldwide as millions are planted and felled each year, meaning that accurately quantifying the amount of carbon they sequester is challenging. Therefore, determining if carbon credits are an adequate and effective method to combat emissions is unclear.<\/p>\n

To overcome this, the research team pioneered a method that analysed 9.9 billion trees in the semiarid Sahel, a vast belt of land stretching across Northern Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea \u2013 an area of roughly ten million square kilometres.<\/p>\n

Their technique will enable experts to count the number of trees in large land areas precisely, and much carbon is sequestered within each tree.<\/p>\n

The study \u2018Sub-continental-scale carbon stocks of individual trees in African drylands<\/a>,’ will help to design more accurate climate models to ensure that carbon credits are used correctly.<\/p>\n