Smoke billows from a fire in the Amazon rainforest, Rondonia State, Brazil. September 10, 2019.
Restoration of forests is a potential measure to combat climate change. A total of 1,20,000 sq km, of which some 36,000 km was pristine primary rain forest, was lost in the last decade, fuelled by El Nino conditions and uncontrolled fires. An increase of 1 billion hectares of forest will be necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degree c by 2050, says a report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. How such reforestation could come about is being debated currently.