--- title: "Australia Is Planting a Billion Trees to Fight Climate Change" description: "## Tree Guy" date: "2019-02-18" modified: "2019-02-18" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/australia-planting-billion-trees" categories: - "Climate Change" - "Environment" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "australia" - "climate change" - "the digest" - "trees" --- # Australia Is Planting a Billion Trees to Fight Climate Change ![The Australian government is gearing up to plant a billion new trees, as part of a vast campaign aimed to meet the climate targets.]() *\Image: Creative Commons\* ## Tree Guy The Australian government is gearing up to [plant a billion new trees](), as part of a vast campaign aimed to meet the climate targets set by the Paris Agreement. The government estimates that the project, which will run until 2050, will eventually remove 18 million tons of greenhouse gases per years — an intriguing example of a less technical response to climate change. ## Forest Gump The news dovetails neatly with new research, by researchers at ETH Zurich, that found that a widespread campaign of tree-planting worldwide could make a substantial dent in the world's net greenhouse gas emissions. Zurich researcher Thomas Crowther told *The Independent* that trees are "our most powerful weapon in the fight against climate change." ## Deep Roots A billion trees is an impressive start, of course, but it's substantially less than the trillion extra trees that Crowther and his colleagues estimate the Earth could support. "It’s a beautiful thing because everyone can get involved," Crowther [told *The Independent*](). "Trees literally just make people happier in urban environments, they improve air quality, water quality, food quality, ecosystem service, it’s such an easy, tangible thing." **READ MORE:** [Australia in Tree-Planting Binge to Help Meet Climate Targets]() \[*Bloomberg*\] ***More on trees:*** [Swarms of Drones Can Now Plant Trees in Areas Devastated by Fires]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()