Wood and trees

This from the Indy Letters page about the role of trees in the carbon cycle bears a thought:

How forests store greenhouse gas

Steve Connor's article "Forests losing the ability to absorb man-made carbon" (1 November) illustrates one of the most common misconceptions surrounding absorption of atmospheric carbon by trees: the misapprehension that forests are net absorbers of CO2.

A mature forest is incredibly useful to us as a store of carbon since any carbon that is fixed within the mass of a living tree is carbon that is not contributing to global warming. However, an existing forest can never help us in our plight unless it is spreading to cover more land. A mature forest (like a mature individual tree) is essentially "carbon neutral": it is absorbing only as much as it is releasing.

Unfortunately, there is not one significant area of mature forest on our planet that is increasing in size. We only get a net benefit when we plant new trees and thereby create new forest. We are in desperate need of more trees and the really sad thing is that this article will lead to fewer new trees being planted.

So... my banging on about not knocking down forests is valid, but not enough. Equally, I retain some significant doubts on many (not all) 'offset schemes' which, as I glibly put it, 'whack a fir in t' firmament - hey, an missed acronym: 'WAFIF'.

In fact, this kind of connects to my notion that using FSC-certified products might actually help over recycling by encouraging replanting. Or does it, as the net area does not expand... oh, my spinning head!

Indy - How timber can store carbon

Time and Place

A long time ago, a very good (but not so good I can recall the actual name) newspaper ad on TV (go figure) involved a series of versions of the same incident from a different perspective. A yoof is running to an old lady. Is it to rob her? Or, as it turned out, to push her out of the way of a falling object.

I was pondering this as I uploaded the next bit of citizen journalism in so many days.

Depending on where you are in the world, it has been a bit blowy here today. And here I have captured the aftermath of a lovely silver birch suffering the consequences in the Church Yard as I walked to get the boys from school.

'Bloomin' Global Warming', I thought, as I reflected on the 2 (out of 4) similarly sized and aged trees that have fallen in our garden since we moved in. Assuming we are not as a family fatal to large trees, it had to be the only explanation.

But, need it? The clue to my thinking (unproven, I grant you) is the age comment above. Trees do not live for ever. Maybe it was just their time, and the high winds tipped the balance, along with the tree itself.

Just a thought. At least we're OK for firewood, not that we dare burn it. At least until the Russians cut our gas off. Time to look at high-efficiency wood stoves, I think.

ps: One irony is that, I believe (and this does need confirming), a wind turbine would need to be locked down to avoid self-damage. As I write this the next day, it would be hard-pressed to light an LED.

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