India Plants Nearly 50 Million Trees to Fight Air Pollution, Climate Change

India planted 49.3 million trees in just 24 hours earlier this week in an effort to raise awareness of forest conservation, air pollution, and the fight against climate change — shattering the previous world record of 847,275, set in Pakistan in 2013. Officials said more than 800,000 people in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state, turned out to help, including students, government officials, and volunteers from nonprofit groups. As part of its climate commitments in Paris last December, India has pledged to increase its forest cover to 235 million acres by 2030. So the government officials has designated more than $6.2 billion for the nation’s states to host tree planting drives. “The world has realized that serious efforts are needed to reduce carbon emissions to mitigate the effect of global climate change. Uttar Pradesh has made a beginning in this regard,” the state’s chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said .