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Forests

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AndyinPA
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Forests

#1

Post by AndyinPA »

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... re-forests
More fierce and frequent fires are reducing forest density and tree size and may damage forests’ ability to capture carbon in the future, according to a global study.

Although forest fires are naturally occurring phenomena and natural forests regenerate, global heating and human activity have caused the frequency and intensity of fires to rise. Wildfires burn 5% of the planet’s surface every year, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere equivalent to a fifth of our annual fossil fuel emissions.

Researchers analysing decades of data from 29 regions in Africa, Australia, North America and South America have found that sites that had fires every year had 63% fewer individual trees and 72% less basal area – a measurement which reveals the trees are much smaller – than places that never burned. Landscapes with fewer, smaller trees are likely to sequester less carbon.

There is growing interest in planting trees as a natural climate solution, with the Trillion Trees campaign attracting the support of the global politicians and business leaders and even the enthusiastic backing of Donald Trump in the final year of his US presidency.

But researchers warned that afforestation efforts to sequester carbon would have to choose planting locations carefully and take heed of changes to fire frequency, with regular blazes changing the species within wooded areas as well as tree size.
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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Re: Forests

#2

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... -in-lesbos
First came the tree, all 19.5 metres of it, with roots and branches and leaves. Then, weeks later, the discovery of 150 fossilised logs, one on top of the other, a short distance away.

Nikolas Zouros, a professor of geology at the University of the Aegean, couldn’t believe his luck. In 25 years of excavating the petrified forest of Lesbos, he had unearthed nothing like it.

“The tree is unique,” he said. “To discover it so complete and in such excellent condition is a first. To then discover a treasure trove of so many petrified trunks in a single pit was, well, unbelievable.”

Stretching across almost all of the Greek island’s western peninsula, the petrified forest, a Unesco global geopark, is among the largest in the world.

Produced by successive volcanic eruptions, its vividly coloured fossilised trunks are a witness to the explosions that buried much of Lesbos under lava and ash between 17 and 20 million years ago.
Image
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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Re: Forests

#3

Post by Volkonski »

Two-thirds of tropical rainforest destroyed or degraded globally, NGO says

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-clim ... SKBN2B00U2
The forest loss is also a major contributor of climate-warming emissions, with the dense tropical forest vegetation representing the largest living reservoir of carbon.

Logging and land conversion, mainly for agriculture, have wiped out 34% of the world’s original old-growth tropical rainforests, and degraded another 30%, leaving them more vulnerable to fire and future destruction, according to an analysis by the non-profit Rainforest Foundation Norway.

More than half of the destruction since 2002 has been in South America’s Amazon and bordering rainforests.

As more rainforest is destroyed, there is more potential for climate change, which in turn makes it more difficult for remaining forests to survive, said the report’s author Anders Krogh, a tropical forest researcher.
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Re: Forests

#4

Post by AndyinPA »

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate- ... th-science
TUCSON — The giant saguaro, an icon of the American West, is beloved in this state. Arms raised in a perpetual “hello there,” the saguaro covers the desert wilderness and thrives in cities. Its silhouette appears in fine art and on restaurant walls; businesses and schools carry its name. Arizona state law protects the plant, and it is revered by the native Tohono O’odham tribe.

The largest cactus in the United States, the saguaro is distinct, visually and biologically. A mature saguaro can grow to 40 feet and weigh a ton after soaking up rainwater. Supported by its wood skeleton, the saguaro can sprout dozens of arms. Sometimes the arms are curled; if two are growing side by side, they’re often hugging.

The saguaro grows in just one part of the world: in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona; northern Mexico; a smidgen of California; and most prolifically in a mountainous swath that flows west from Tucson to the California border. It’s a landscape of rock, hard sand and open blue sky, and the saguaro has been part of it for 10,000 years.

And now, a changing climate is raising concerns about how the saguaro will survive the 21st century in an environment that’s hot and getting hotter, dry and getting drier. In a climate wake-up call, drought and record-breaking heat in 2020 contributed to wildfires that killed thousands of saguaros.

"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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Re: Forests

#5

Post by AndyinPA »

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... meal-plant
A $55m (£39m) deal struck by the government of Sierra Leone with China to build an industrial fishing harbour on 100 hectares (250 acres) of beach and protected rainforest has been criticised as “a catastrophic human and ecological disaster” by conservationists, landowners and rights groups.

The gold and black sands of Black Johnson beach fringe the African nation’s Western Area Peninsula national park, home to endangered species including the duiker antelope and pangolins. The waters are rich in sardines, barracuda and grouper, caught by local fishermen who produce 70% of the fish for the domestic market.

After reports of a Chinese-backed fishmeal plant began circulating on social media, A statement that appeared to be from the Sierra Leonean fisheries ministry confirmed the deal, but denied the planned construction was a “fish mill”. The facility would be a harbour for tuna and “other bigger fishing” vessels exporting to international markets, it said. It would include a “waste-management component” to “recycle marine and other wastes into useful products”.
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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Re: Forests

#6

Post by ZinWhit »

I will be appearing on KPFA's Terra Nova program 7/2 talking about a DoD forest-to-biofuels project called Red Rock Biofuels, a shuttered but still very much alive $356M+ taxpayer subsidized, clean Energy ruse, boondoggle. I've been following this project and it's underlying issues for almost a decade.

Hope you listen.

https://kpfa.org/program/terra-verde/
Conservation is what conservation does and it sure ain't preservation.
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Re: Forests

#7

Post by tencats »

What we can learn from Paris’s oldest tree
Published July 12, 2021
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/envi ... e-20210713
The landmark tree, brought to France from Appalachia, shows the spread of invasive species, even in the shadow of the Notre Dame cathedral.
From the window of the apartment I’m staying in I can see the top of a not very tall but very remarkable tree, one that has occasionally been distracting me from the story I came to Paris for. I know the tree is remarkable because a plaque identifies it as the city’s oldest, planted in 1601. It’s a black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia, and it came originally from the Appalachians, in the United States.

Now, for various reasons that 1601 date is doubtful. But it appears likely that the tree was indeed planted sometime in the early 17th century by one Jean Robin, gardener to a succession of French kings. It has survived wars and revolutions and this summer has sprouted a nice full head of greenery. A wounded old soldier itself—its scarred trunk is kept upright by concrete braces—it turns out to have been the spearhead of an invading army: Since the 17th century, American black locusts have advanced across Europe and indeed the world.

In Central Europe, especially, foresters soon fell in love with them. Black locusts grew quickly on land that had been denuded for firewood, protecting it from erosion. More recently, on the Loess Plateau in northwestern China, 25 million acres have been planted with black locusts over the last few decades to combat some of the worst soil erosion on Earth. Black locust wood is valuable too, and not just for burning; it’s hard and durable. Four centuries after Robin first planted the American import in his garden, Robinia is advertised here as the only “European” wood that can be used for garden furniture without pesticide treatment—a sustainable alternative to imported tropical teak.
Image


Black Locust: The Tree on Which the US Was Built
https://www.livescience.com/50732-black ... tates.html
The attributes of this tree are seemingly endless — for example, its durability in the ground, and the wonderful fragrance of the flowers from which bees make excellent honey. It has the highest beam strength of any North American tree, and it is used to stabilize erosion-prone slopes and to reclaim mining sites. It fixes nitrogen in its roots, is extremely resistant to pollution and, for this reason, was planted along rail lines in England. The roots have a sweet licorice flavor, and a cord of seasoned locust has the same Btu potential as a ton of anthracite coal — the highest fuel value of any American tree.
:snippity:
And yet we could make the case that the black locust helped the United States win the War of 1812. The decisive battle of that war was fought on Lake Champlain. On Sept. 11, 1814, the American fleet, commanded by Commodore Thomas Macdonough, engaged the British fleet, commanded by Capt. George Downie (killed in action), in Plattsburg Bay.

One of the reasons circulated for the British Navy's defeat was that English ships were built with oak nails (the large pins or trunnels that hold the wooden members of a ship together), while American ships were built with locust nails. As a result, when the cannonballs from the American fleet hit the British ships, those ships came apart. But when the shot from the British ships hit the American fleet, their ships held together — and that is the reason they lost the Battle of Plattsburg Bay.

The very next year, the British began importing thousands of locust nails to refit the British Navy. By 1820, the Philadelphia market alone was exporting between 50,000 and 100,000 locust nails to England per year. As locust continues in export, even to this day,
https://www.livescience.com/50732-black ... tates.html
China’s afforestation effort provides evidence that replacing natural grass vegetation with unmanaged artificial black locust plantations has significantly changed the water availability as well as whole water cycle.
https://theconversation.com/planting-tr ... ses-128259
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Re: Forests

#8

Post by AndyinPA »

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/21/weather/ ... index.html
When you think of fall, the first thing that usually comes to mind is leaves changing to beautiful reds, oranges and yellows. This year those colors may look a little different thanks to the drought.

Perfect foliage conditions rely on a good combination of temperature and moisture. The processes in photosynthesis use different chemical compounds that create different colors. Most of the chemicals need sunshine to create vibrant colorful displays during autumn. But sunshine alone is not enough; trees also need rain.
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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Re: Forests

#9

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/1 ... rs-of-M-Ms
Rep. Katie Porter used 479 pounds of rice to show just how much federal land Big Oil is sitting on

Rep. Katie Porter showed exactly how little the oil industry cares about combating climate change through the creative use of props during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday. Porter has consistently been critical of the world’s worst polluters and even signed a pledge not to take money from them. She knows how much fossil fuel companies stand to gain by refusing to adequately address climate change.

During Porter’s questioning of Shell President Gretchen Watkins, the California congresswoman held up a jar filled to the brim with M&Ms, each of which represented about $50 million. Altogether, the M&Ms signified upwards of the $22 billion Shell’s 2020 annual report called for spending on renewable energy in the near term. The near term must add up to almost a decade, because Watkins said Shell is only spending $2 billion to $3 billion on renewables this year.

Porter noted that Shell will be spending between $16 billion and $17 billion this year on oil, gas, and chemical operations, with another $3 billion going towards marketing. “Mrs. Watkins, to me, this does not look like an adequate response to one of the ‘defining challenges of our time,’” Porter said, quoting Watkins’ own testimony. “This is greenwashing,” Porter added.

Porter questioned Mike Sommers, who serves as president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API). Sommers’ testimony was short on concrete details about combating climate change but long on promises of reducing “emissions while still providing affordable, reliable energy.” Much of what Sommers highlighted focused squarely on continuing to use fossil fuels and repairing existing fossil fuel infrastructure instead of taking the necessary action to eliminate harmful emissions. Porter zeroed in on the API’s habit of leasing large swaths of land, much of which they’ve yet to exploit.

Porter found an even better illustration of this by buying up massive sacks of rice. Each grain of rice represents one acre, so it would take 479 pounds to account for the federal land API members are sitting on. A special shoutout to Porter’s vanity plate, which reads “OVRSITE.”
Cross posted.
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Re: Forests

#10

Post by dan1100 »

Pioneer Forest:

The Pioneer Forest is a working Oak/Hickory forest in Southeast Missouri Ozarks that is managed with single tree selection for both long term timber value and conservation purposes.

The Current River Natural area is a virgin white oak forest with 400 year old trees. It's at the bottom of a giant ridge and the walk back up to the road on the ridge top is brutal and if you try to get there from the Ozark Trail, its too long for an easy day hike, which keep the riff-raff away.

https://mdc.mo.gov/magazines/conservati ... tural-area

Detailed information on the history of the pioneer forest.

https://ladfoundation.org/pioneer-forest/
"From the beginning, Drey challenged forest owners and managers to think in long-range terms about forests, their management, and the many public benefits forests provide. He recognized that these forested landscapes could be productive while they were managed using a more conservative harvesting technique. Drey's goal was to establish a demonstration method of harvesting trees while retaining the structure and character of the forest across the landscape. The long-range objective for Pioneer Forest is to develop and manage native tree species of large diameter and high quality for wood products while also providing a host of recreational and ecosystem benefits."
revised-old-growth-white-oak-tree.jpg
revised-old-growth-white-oak-tree.jpg (152.94 KiB) Viewed 1590 times
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Re: Forests

#11

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

I just visited Echo Bluff State Park near the Current River. The lodge restaurant had Michelin class food! https://mostateparks.com/park/echo-bluff-state-park
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Re: Forests

#12

Post by dan1100 »

Echo Bluff borders the Pioneer Forest.

It has a controversial and interesting history. It was originally "Camp Zoe", a Grateful Dead oriented outdoor concert venue/open air drug party. The feds took it with asset forfeiture and the state bought it at auction. The money to develop it came from the Taum Sauk settlement, which made the people who actually lived by the Taum Sauk dam breach very unhappy.

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblo ... nto-a-park

edit: If you drove by the giant virgin Southern Pine trees on the road leading toward Eminence, that's a part of the Pioneer Forest too.
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Re: Forests

#13

Post by Tiredretiredlawyer »

We saw those because we drove through Eminence.
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Re: Forests

#14

Post by dan1100 »

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: Tue Nov 02, 2021 12:59 pm We saw those because we drove through Eminence.
It's highway 19 to the north of Eminence. https://ladfoundation.org/other-l-a-d-l ... rgin-pine/
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