#45 / Where We Can Plant The Trees

Rebecca Moore, pictured above, is a computer scientist who lives in the Santa Cruz mountains. Audubon calls her a "trailblazer." Moore is one of eight people whom Audubon says are "changing the climate conversation." The stories of these eight trailblazers appear in Audubon's Fall 2019 special "climate" issue, which suggests that we really can make the changes we need to make to prevent the "worst case" global warming scenario from becoming a reality. You can read about Rebecca and other Audubon trailblazers by clicking on this link. The Audubon article has embedded video, besides the pictures and the words. 

Among the words found in the part of the article focusing on Moore are these: 

I’m a reluctant activist—it’s not natural for me—but I love nature and my community. In 2005 I got a public notice of intent to harvest timber near my home. Buried in it were details that would allow cutting more than 60 percent of the largest stand of old-growth redwoods in the county. I thought, “How can I, a computer scientist, help people understand what’s at stake?” 

A community group and I digitally mapped the forest and established that the plan didn’t qualify for the permit. Seeing the power of satellite imagery was eye-opening. Often environmental debates involve opposing parties throwing facts and figures back and forth. When you show people the real world, they grasp complex issues in seconds. 

Google hired me because I had a vision that Google Earth could democratize information access—that anyone could annotate the planet to create impact ...  

One way to help keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius is to add a billion hectares of forest to the planet. A recent paper using Google Earth Engine shows where we can plant those trees.

Knowing where we can plant those trees is great. But now we have actually to plant them!

Image Credit:

https://www.audubon.org/magazine/fall-2019/meet-8-trailblazers-who-are-changing-climate