Feedback processes must be considered in computer models of climate change. While scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research work to understand these processes and predict how the climate will respond, the importance of the world's forests is certain. The notion of planting a tree to save the planet is a popular one, and it comes about largely because of the forest's role in storing carbon. While the concept is sound, it is impractical. The r ality is that in the United States alone, we'd each have to plant over 800 trees per year to remove the CO2 we're adding to the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels and wood.
Carbon dioxide is only one gas which is exchanged between the atmosphere and forests.
The concentrations of many other gases in the lower atmosphere are influenced by vegetation. Many gases are removed from the atmosphere when they contact the surfaces of plants. For many pollutants, this removal process is so important that some cities have planted trees and other vegetation to try to improve air quality. The gases can be deposited on the outside of the plant, or, in the daytime, can enter the leaves and affect the internal processes of the plant. Photo by NCAR Ozone is perhaps the most-studied pollutant.