Restoring natural landscapes damaged by human exploitation can be one of the most effective and cheapest ways to combat the climate crisis while also boosting dwindling wildlife populations, a scientific study finds. If a third of the planet’s most degraded areas were restored, and protection was thrown around areas still in good condition, that would store carbon equating to half of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions since the industrial revolution. The changes would prevent about 70 percent of predicted species extinctions, according to the research, which is published in the journal Nature.
By Fiona Harvey. Grist/The Guardian. October 18, 2020.
