Fred Pearce

Fred Pearce, an environmental journalist, argues in the following viewpoint that planting trees to soak up carbon dioxide is not an effective alternative to reducing emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. The United States and other industrialized countries have proposed allowing planned new forests called “carbon sinks” to count toward their total greenhouse gas reductions as required by the Kyoto Protocol, a global climate treaty. According to Pearce, new forests may actually accelerate global warming by returning carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What fraction of the total carbon dioxide emissions from human activity is absorbed by the world’s forests, according to Pearce?
2. In the author’s opinion, how long is the time lag between the absorption and outpouring...