How bamboo can help lock in carbon and slow climate change » Yale Climate Connection

Transcript:

Bamboo isn't just for pandas. These tall, fast-growing plants are used to make a variety of products from flooring and furniture to fabrics and cutting boards.

Some scientists say bamboo could also help reduce climate change.

As bamboo grows, it rapidly absorbs large amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Then, if people use bamboo to make products like flooring or furniture, the carbon is locked into the product over the long term rather than returning to the atmosphere.

Bamboo can grow well in a variety of different environments as well as in degraded soils or areas where it is difficult to grow many other crops.

Climate research group Project Drawdown suggests planting bamboo on hundreds of millions of acres of degraded forest land around the world to help slow the rate of climate change.

Certain types of bamboo spread quickly and can outcompete native species, raising concerns about planting them in more places.

But other bamboo species are less likely to become invasive species, and there are native bamboo species that can be grown in many parts of the world.

Therefore, this versatile plant can help reduce global warming.

Report source: Ethan Freedman/ChavoBart Digital Media