SAEON in the media

A perspectives' piece SAEON's Prof. William Bond was invited to write for the journal Science resulted in articles in Cape Times of 13 January 2016, The Mercury of 13 January 2016 and Plantnet of 15 January 2016. The topic concerns the plan to 'reforest' vast areas of Africa's humid savannas and grasslands. This plan assumes that the grasslands were forests and were deforested by people. “There is a large weight of evidence that this is not true,” says Prof. Bond. “The idea that planting trees cools the planet by taking up CO₂ is also only half the story since forests also absorb more solar radiation than grasslands and would therefore heat the planet.”