Forests are carbon sinks that help slow climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in trunks and soil. And old-growth trees — trees that have reached old age without major human disturbances like logging — hold much larger amounts of carbon and harmful pollutants than their younger counterparts.
Today, trees absorb one-third of global emissions every year. And when we burn them, all of that pollution gets released into the air. 2019’s forest loss released an amount of carbon equal to adding 400 million cars on the road for a year. Even small amounts of air pollution contribute to a plethora of health issues — including a higher likelihood of death from COVID-19 — that affect society unevenly.