As the climate continues to heat up and the effects of climate change worsen, scientists expect wet areas to get wetter and dry areas to get dryer. This affects plant and animal species, requiring them to move to cooler areas, and sometimes causing a mismatch between when plant food becomes available relative to animal births (e.g., butterflies). It is important for us to reduce greenhouse gases, mitigate the effects of climate change, and support the natural environment to help native plants and animals.
As climate change worsens, gardening and farming will be more difficult. Wetter areas will be more prone to flooding, which will result in top soil erosion, which will result in lower harvests and more fertilizer use, which will result in more water dead zones (eutrophication). Dryer areas will be more prone to top soil erosion during wind storms and heavier irrigation use, which will reduce valuable and limited fresh water supplies. A common problem with both wetter and dryer areas is top soil erosion. In addition, it will be important for wet soils to absorb additional water and dry soils to retain precious precipitation. Soils will survive better if the soils are organic (or regenerative) in nature.
Multifaceted protections to help reduce or mitigate effects of climate change are listed in Table 1 below (Yu, 2025)(Yale, 2022). Table 2 quantifies the reduction of greenhouse gases by carbon sequestration.
| Action | Reasoning |
| Plant native trees, bushes | Reduce greenhouse gases, by carbon sequestration both in plant matter and in soil. (See Table 2 for numbers.) Stabilize topsoil (reducing erosion), by providing a wind break for dry areas, and soaking up floods in wet areas. Generate plant litter, enabling soil to become more organic in nature. Generate shade that can reduce temperatures in summer both inside and outside your home, saving you in cooling costs. Raise the property value of your home and improve your neighborhood, when tree(s) are maintained in good shape. Raise the humidity in dry conditions since trees transpire water. |
| Plant native plant species | Stabilize topsoil, since native plants have deep roots, reducing water and wind erosion, and surviving droughts. Help wild birds, butterflies, bees with native food and habitat, thereby increasing cross-pollination of foods for both us and native animals. Beautify your neighborhood for your family and neighbors to enjoy. |
| Develop organic or regenerative soils | Till conservatively, by retaining previous years’ crop litter until spring and serve as green manure fertilizer for the next year’s crop. Sequester carbon in soils, by making plant litter available to microbes and bacteria who sequester soil carbon and make it available to plants. Avoid use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, which kill important microbes, bacteria and worms that build organic soils. Stabilize and build topsoil, since organic soils cluster better, preventing erosion. Improve water retention capabilities, both in wet and dry areas, with clumpy soils that absorb and retain water and with plant litter that serves as mulch.Rotate crops (if not no-till) to reduce harmful pests and raise total yields. |
Trees can sequester carbon, reduce flooding, provide shade, increase the value of your home, reduce the cost of air conditioning, clean the air, provide habitat for wildlife, make your neighborhood more attractive, and sometimes provide edible fruit or nuts. Notice that poorer neighborhoods tend to have fewer trees, while wealthier neighborhoods have more. It is estimated that trees raise the property value of your home by 3.5-15% and save in cooling costs 3% in 5 years and 12% by year 15, for a western-placed tree (Yale, 2022). Trees near your home can reduce flooding – or increase it if a tree is cut down. If basement flooding is an issue, some bushes grow faster than trees and may be a stopgap while a tree is growing. However, trees need to be in good shape. Trees native to your area tend to adapt to local conditions better and live longer.
| Tree circumference at 4.5 feet (1.37 meters) off ground | Kilograms CO2 saved per tree, per year |
| < 10 inches | 6.9 |
| 10-19.99 inches | 10.03 |
| 20-29.99 inches | 14.4 |
| 30-39.99 inches | 20.32 |
| 40-49.99 inches | 28.02 |
| 50-59.99 inches | 37.53 |
| 60-69.99 inches | 48.57 |
| 70-79.99 inches | 60.47 |
| 80-89.99 inches | 72.32 |
| 90-99.99 inches | 83.23 |
| 100-109.99 inches | 92.58 |
| >110 inches | See: www.carboncalculator.ncsu.edu/Trees.aspx |
| 100 square feet lawn grass | 0.84 |
North Carolina has a calculator to calculate greenhouse gas savings for multiple trees, all size (including larger) trees, as well as lawn carbon sequestration. See: http://www.carboncalculator.ncsu.edu/Trees.aspx. Table 2 was taken from this site.
References
Carbon storage by trees. North Carolina State Turf Management and Research. From: http://www.carboncalculator.ncsu.edu/Trees.aspx.
Yale, Aly J. (2022) Want to Boost the Value of Your Home? Plant a Tree — Right Now. Money, Jul 11, 2022. From: https://money.com/boost-value-of-home-with-trees/.
Yu, Zhonjie (2025) Course: NRES 474 Soil and Water Conservation, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.