Skip to main content

What if there were 1 trillion more trees? - Jean-François Bastin

3,794,151 Views

29,006 Questions Answered

TEDEd Animation

Let’s Begin…

Today humanity produces more than 1,400 tons of carbon every minute. To combat climate change, we need to reduce fossil fuel emissions, and draw down excess CO2 to restore the balance of greenhouse gases. Like all plants, trees consume atmospheric carbon through photosynthesis. So what can trees do to help in this fight? Jean-François Bastin digs into the efforts to restore depleted ecosystems.

The restoration potential of the planet is estimated under current climate conditions. But, the climate is changing. Will that affect restoration strategies? (Temperature increase in boreal regions and droughts increase in tropical region. The potential is changing with climate change, it will decrease in the tropics and increase in boreal regions. Yet, the increase of potential in boreal region is not a good news as it comes along with the melting of the permafrost and the release of methane)

Sign in to answer question

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Jean-François Bastin
  • Director Lobster Studio
  • Narrator Addison Anderson
  • Storyboard Artist Diana Stoyanova
  • Animator Teodor Hristov, Nikolay Ivanov
  • Compositor Fabrizio Martini
  • Art Director Fausto Montanari
  • Sound Designer Fabrizio Martini
  • Music Fabrizio Martini
  • Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
  • Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
  • Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
  • Editorial Producer Dan Kwartler
  • Script Editor Alex Gendler
  • Fact-Checker Eden Girma

More from Our Changing Climate