Two recently published papers warn that planting huge numbers of trees may not benefit the environment as much as we thought. Based on previous research, we know that trees will absorb and store carbon. Hence many countries emphasize tree planting to fight climate change and provide financial incentives to encourage tree plantations.
However, one paper finds that some private landowners received subsidies from their governments and replaced native forests with commercially valuable tree plantations. Without proper restrictions, this kind of subsidy scheme may decrease not only the area of native forests but also biodiversity. The other study points out that previous assumptions about how much carbon newly planted forests can fix is likely overestimated. Therefore, afforestation may not be a simple solution to climate change like people expected.
友善讓你懂 │ 解說：
地球暖化一直是全球關注的焦點，近期有兩篇學術論文，對於大量種植樹木的行為，提出可能不如我們預期「對環境有利」的警告。根據以前的研究，人們都知道樹木能夠吸收並儲存碳。因此，有許多國家努力植樹來對抗氣候變遷，並且提供財政獎勵來鼓勵人為造林。
然而，其中一篇論文的研究發現，由於此類獎勵方案大多以植樹數量或面積來計算，有些私人地主會從政府手上取得補助金，卻砍掉土地上的原生樹木，改種植較有商業價值的新樹種。缺少了適當的規範，這種補助政策可能不只會減少原生樹林的面積，還會喪失了森林的物種多樣性。另外一篇論文則指出，從數據來看，一直以來人們可能都高估了新種植樹木的碳吸存能力。由此可見，造林政策並不像人們期望依賴的那樣，可以簡單解決氣候變遷的問題。
輕鬆帶著走 │ 學習：
氣候變遷climate change的議題始終值得我們關注，想「應對」氣候變遷，常用的動詞包括
combat v. 與…戰鬥；打擊；制止
fight v. 努力擊敗；打鬥
tackle v. 對付；處理
其他跟造林減碳相關的單字如下：
1. plantation n. 林場；人造林
2. afforestation n. 造林（指此行為）
3. carbon emissions n. 碳排放量
4. biodiversity n. 生物多樣性
5. greenhouse gas n. 溫室氣體，促成溫室效應的氣體成分，其中二氧化碳含量約佔1/4
6. carbon footprint n. 碳足跡，每人/單位每日釋放的溫室氣體量
例句：
To tackle climate change, many countries agree to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
為了應對氣候變遷問題，許多國家同意在2050年達到「零碳排放」。
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