January 22nd, 2009

Just today, researchers writing in the journal Science announced that trees in the western United States and Canada are dying twice as quickly as they did just 30 years ago.

These thinner and weaker forests may soak up less carbon dioxide, in turn speeding up global warming.  There is no dispute that trees store carbon, and any reduction in our forests, means less available for storage.

Trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen, removing carbon from the atmosphere. But when trees die or burn, this carbon is released back into the atmosphere.

So a dying forest adds to the carbon that in turn helps warm the planet’s surface.

The researchers said they found trees of various species, ages and sizes are dying faster at every elevation.

Mark Harmon, a professor of forest ecology at Oregon State University, said: “Forest fires or major insect epidemics that kill a lot of trees all at once tend to get most of the headlines. What we’re studying here are changes that are much slower and difficult to identify, but in the long run extremely important.”

What do you think?  Is this “no big deal”, or “one more piece of evidence”?  Perhaps a call to action?

Posted in Forestation |

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