Planting trees in the Arctic could make global warming worse, not better, say scientists

Tree planting has been widely touted as a cost-effective way of reducing global warming, due to trees' ability to store large quantities of carbon from the atmosphere. But, an international group of scientists argue that tree planting at high latitudes will accelerate, rather than decelerate, global warming. Why? Because soils in the Arctic and Subarctic store immense amounts of carbon that may be released into the atmosphere when disturbed, and the trees will soak up more heat from the sun than white snow.