Forests Emerge as a Major Overlooked Climate Factor

Could a future Arctic landscape be covered by trees? Using powerful computer models, innovative climatologist Abigail Swann looked at that possibility while exploring the diverse global impacts forests exert upon Earth’s weather. Her results have shaken the world of skeptical climate scientists, where physical data and weather models typically rule. This dense but approachable article by journalist Gabriel Popkin aims to transform the landscape of perspectives on the role of plant ecosystems in climate change, and supports ecologists who claim that forests are essential to human life. The article will engage and inform anyone concerned with climate change and the sustainability of human life on earth.