Dear Will, > The united states has many areas that are suitable for wood plantations. I > think you are correct that controling emissions is much more effective, but > why not do BOTH. True. But we need also to look beyond growing trees for timber & CO2 sequestration. Large stands of tree covers have a precipitous effect on water moisture. Therefore, it's normal to experience higher rainfall in a forested environment than an arid one. Perhaps this is the only means to arrest growing desertification, apart from irrigation. For example, in the desert plateau of Tassili-n-Ajjer, Algeria. Rock paintings of domestic & grassland animals suggested that the Sahara Desert was once more moist & fertile in the past than presently. Overgrazing may have brought about the growth of the Sahara Desert. Although some may argue that the modern day deserts may have more to do with global wind circulation bringing in dry air from the upper troposphere. In another example, more than USD 15 Billion has been spent on soil conservation in the USA since the midst 1930's. Since the end of WWI a combination of factors - overgrazing, poor farming techniques, extensive wheat farming - brought about the "black blizzards" to the drier parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas & the surrounding states, in the 30s. It's estimated that on agricultural land in the USA, soil removal exceed soil formation by 8 times, delivering 4 million tonnes of soil each year to the American river & water-way systems. This leads to sedimentation in reservoirs, shortening & reducing their lives & capacity. In general, soil loss from an urban area may reach 55,000 tonnes per Km2/year, for agricultural - 400 tonnes per Km2/year, and 80-200 tonnes per Km2/year under forest cover. I believe good forest management practice begin with a good soil conservation programme. > Also, i think much of the land that is good for CO2 storing plantations > would not be good for agriculture. The most benefit would be from barren > land that is turned into plantations. Maybe these could be > interplantations, with many species, some giving food for people and > animals. I would like to see more research on CO2 storage of different > types of forest. In reality, one must face the issue of monoculture in forest plantation. In such a plantation, trees are grown for their timber, not to feed wildlife. Normally cash crops are grown to supplement income of plantation owners. This is where an opportunity for both conservationists & plantation owners can work together in conserving biodiversity. Unfortunately, there is often more suspicion than dialogue between the two parties, than warranted. > Research shows a direct correlation between CO2 in the atmosphere and > earth's temp. We are returning the mix to where it was in the days of the > dinosaurs. We are going to have a pan-tropical climate again on this > planet, the only question is how fast we get there. Think of all this > means about earth's forests!!!!!!! We will have to help ecosystems move > much faster than they could on their own. In the days of the dinosaurs > many areas that are desert now were heavily forested. Yes & no. Present day coal deposits seem to suggest the biogenesis of tropical & sub-tropical forest began from the Carboniferous, developing into other forest types during the Jurassic. By the middle Cretaceous, 90% of the forests are said to be constituted of angiosperms, deciduous broad-leaved trees. However, the mass extinction of many species of both flora & fauna during the Cretaceous-Tertiary, & the ice-sheets formation during the Tertiary, together with the earlier Permian mass extinction seem to suggest that there's more to the earth's temperature than just CO2. Much of ancient CO2 had been dissolved & washed down by rainfall. In a chemical reaction with rocks, these CO2 turned into carbonated rocks such as limestone. Therefore, most of the earth's CO2 are tied up in the earth's crust. Plate tectonics reintroduce CO2 into the atmosphere through volcanic eruptions. So Will, there's more to CO2 sequestration than growing trees. ;) God bless. Nelson Wong MTC
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