Arizona State University (ASU) has announced plans to reduce its carbon footprint by planting a forest of 1,000 trees in the area.
This forms a part of the university’s green project to mitigate its carbon emissions at the rate of around 45,000 metric tonnes each year.
The trees, which are currently being grown by Northern Arizona University (NAU) at their research greenhouse, will likely be planted in November.
It said each tree will cost around $44 (£40) and will be funded through a $10 (£9) fee for all ASU-sponsored round-trip flights.
Future site of ASU's Carbon Sink & Learning Forest — exciting plans for class projects and academic research, including above- and below-ground C, and micro-climate studies with this new 1000 tree living laboratory project led by @asu_usp on ASU's West Campus… stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/m5cIheGrSl
— Urban Climate Research Center (@ASUrbanClimate) February 4, 2020
Over the upcoming years, the university’s laboratory will monitor the amounts of carbon stored in the soil to determine how much of a “carbon sink” the land is and how effective the trees are at minimising the release of carbon by the university.
ASU professors will also conduct research to track how planting on such a large scale will affect the microclimate of the local area in terms of wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity and solar radiation.