The Tricky Business of Planting Trees to Save the Planet
Are trees always good? Is fire always bad? Are reforestation efforts in the tropics the best way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? What value is there in other ecosystems, like savannahs and grasslands?
by Bill Hoffmann
Published onJan 15, 2022
The Tricky Business of Planting Trees to Save the Planet
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Abstract
Are trees always good? Is fire always bad? Are reforestation efforts in the tropics the best way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? What value is there in other ecosystems, like savannahs and grasslands? Bill Hoffman, Ph.D. reminds us: Solving wicked problems is not easy; if someone is selling a win-win solution, look closely. There is probably a loser somewhere.
Born in Dubuque, Iowa, Bill Hoffmann studied at Iowa State University (B.S.) and Harvard (Ph.D.). He lived in Brazil for eight years and was visiting professor at the University of Brasilia for four of those years. Hoffmann returns annually (except 2020, for obvious reasons) for research on fire ecology and the dynamics of tropical savanna-forest transitions. Hoffman is a professor and University Faculty Scholar in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at NC State.
The Tricky Business of Planting Trees To Save the Planet (Bill A. Hoffman)
This video was originally produced for an audience of entering first-year and transfer students at NC State University as a part of an interdisciplinary experience. It is available for noncommercial reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial 4.0 License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC 4.0)
