“But it is important to distinguish between responses from younger trees compared to older trees.” “Yes, tree species matter, some grow faster than others and so their response to elevated CO2 may differ, too,” Crous said. Instead, they should be replaced with trees that are better at mitigating the climate crisis.īut we can’t blame palm trees alone, since the type of tree is only one piece of the puzzle.Ĭrous told CNN the age of the tree matters, too: Younger trees absorb less carbon dioxide than older trees. However, in the case of palms, the best solution may not be to simply replace them with more palms. As Earth continues to warm rapidly, tree loss from hurricanes and flooding will become even bigger concerns in the future. “Southern Live oak, Quercus Virginiana - large canopy trees, can withstand occasional floods and hurricanes and are resistant to salt spray, provide habitat for birds and a variety of moss and bromeliads in south Florida,” Redford said.Įven without considering logging and deforestation, Mother Nature brings down a lot of trees. By 2050, Miami Beach’s palms should make up no more than 25% of the public tree population, according to Miami Beach’s Rising Above plan. Having that many palms will not allow for these cities to handle carbon sequestration nearly as well as they would have with other tree varieties. “Palms, while an iconic part of Miami Beach’s landscape, have moved from being an accent plant to a major component of the city’s urban forest,” it says in Miami Beach’s program outline. Instead, programs in both West Palm Beach and Miami Beach, Florida, are taking the initiative to plant trees more adept at handling changing climate conditions.
Regardless, the concern is that a standard passenger vehicle emits about 10,000 pounds (4.6 metric tons) of CO2 per year, which means we need a lot of trees to combat the amount of vehicles on the roads.Įven though palms may not be great at carbon sequestration, chopping them down isn’t the answer. (Palms are sometimes defined as big grasses, shrubs, and even trees, depending on whom you ask.) Botanists, ecologists, and forestry specialists all have a variety of definitions of what a tree actually is. That is why some don’t think palms are actually trees at all. Kristine Crous, a senior lecturer at Western Sydney University, explains that palms don’t produce wood, so they’re poorer at storing carbon. The average palm in southern Florida only absorbs 5 pounds of CO2 per year.Ĭompared to other trees - oaks, mahogany, pines, and cedars - that can sequester more than 3,000 pounds of CO2 over their lifetime, it may be best to exclude palms in favor of more broadleaf trees or conifers. A tree absorbs carbon during photosynthesis and stores it for the life of the tree.īut Florida’s beloved palms are the least effective at carbon sequestration. One approach is called “terrestrial sequestration” - which is essentially planting trees. Scientists are working on solutions to capture and safely contain atmospheric carbon. In fact, the last time carbon dioxide concentration was this high was more than 3 million years ago. With atmospheric carbon dioxide levels today higher than at any point in at least the past 800,000 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Earth needs to remove it or humans have to stop adding it.
READ MORE: Last Surviving Nuremberg Trials Prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz Nominated For Congressional Gold Medal “Palm trees do not sequester carbon at the same rate as our native canopy trees and do not provide shade, cool down streets and sidewalks to help counter the urban heat island effect that canopy trees do,” said Penni Redford, the Resilience and Climate Change Manager for West Palm Beach. But what if those palm trees were slowly replaced with other trees? That could happen over time because of climate change, and communities in South Florida are trying to save the world from the climate crisis, one tree at a time. MIAMI (CBSMiami/CNN) - When you think of The Sunshine State, beaches and palm trees come to mind.
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