Ethiopia set a world record to save the planet.

Al Jazeera reports the East African country planted over 350 million trees in 12 hours on Monday. The planting was a part of the Green Legacy Initiative, a campaign spearheaded by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Government offices and schools were closed for the day to meet the initial goal of 200 million seedlings.

#GreenLegacy in Wolayta Soddo#አረንጓዴአሻራ በወላይታ ሶዶ#PMOEthiopia
pic.twitter.com/qnl9sj547j

— Office of the Prime Minister – Ethiopia (@PMEthiopia) July 29, 2019

Getahun Mekuria, Ethiopia's minister of innovation and technology, announced the final tally of 353,633,660 on Monday afternoon. The prime minister’s office said specialized software was used to count the seedlings, according to The Independent.

353,633,660 Tree Seedlings Planted in 12 Hours. This is in #Ethiopians

Regional Shares of Trees Planted today.#PMOEthiopia
#GreenLegacyEthiopia
pic.twitter.com/2BkTDtYedC

— Dr.-Ing. Getahun Mekuria (@DrGetahun) July 29, 2019

The campaign aims to plant 4 billion trees by October, which is the end of the country’s rainy season. Ethiopia is halfway there with a total of 2.6 billion trees planted.

The initiative is based on a Swiss study that claims 1 trillion trees need to be planted to combat global warming. The scientists who authored the report wrote the trees would absorb 750 million tons of carbon monoxide, the equivalent of 25 years of human carbon pollution. The trees will also alleviate the deforestation in Ethiopia. Less than 4% of the country is covered in forest. This is an alarming decline from the 30% that existed at the end of the 19th century. The deforestation is blamed on population growth, climate change and a need for more farmland.

It is unclear if Guinness will honor the nation’s accomplishment. The record was previously held by India, where 66 million trees were planted in a day in 2017.

Global-Warming

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