If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is there, does it make a sound? How about if the whole forest falls? Will we hear the noise then? Today's cover article in the New York Times brings light to the fact that several of the world's old forests are falling victim to global climate change. In an excellently written piece, the article gives voice to these forests as they are ravaged by insects, diseases, drought, and wildfire.
What scientists have found during fairly recent research shows us the unseen importance in forests. They help sequester carbon by taking in Carbon Dioxide and prevent it from getting back into the atmosphere. With the help of the forests, the atmosphere has not warmed up as quickly as it should, since the forests can absorb up to 25% of the emitted Carbon Dioxide around the world (absorbing 10% of the national carbon emissions). A loss of the forests, whether through decay, or most likely, fire, immediately releases that carbon back into the atmosphere, continuing the warming of the skies.
Now, some research shows that while some forests are failing, others are being strengthened by the increase of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. Plants, of course, love that gaseous compound since they breath it in. It stands to reason that plants will do better in a slightly warmer, Carbon Dioxide-filled world. However, the skeptics of climate change damage and the denialists are using this argument to say everything is going to be just fine and we shouldn't need to alter our activities. What they are failing to accept is that with a continued rise in temperatures, even by a few degrees, the growing number of healthy forests will also begin to fall prey to the insects, diseases, and droughts that are already creeping northward and southward from their traditional boundaries of affliction.
Also, with the loss of forests comes a loss of biodiversity to an ecosystem. Not just the trees are affected, but the understory plants and all of the animals that call the forest home. This loss of biodiversity leads to a completely different ecosystem, one that may become a monoculture of invasive plants and animals, or one that at the very minimum is less healthy and less stable. Forests are not just the lungs of the Earth, they are the shelter of the Earth. With the continued attacks on environmental regulations and protections, and haggling over which protection techniques are best, we lose time and traction in the fight to reverse our negative impact on the Earth. Why should every other living thing have to suffer on behalf of our greed and ineptness to get into a cleaner, safer way of living our human lives?
When I read this article this morning, my heart broke. I have very fond memories of being in forests and observing and interacting with those types of ecosystems. I can't bear the thought of seeing them become a rare and almost unseen commodity. We've got to stop the bickering and the nay-saying in this country and actually think of the future. I don't want the future generations of the human race not knowing what a natural forest is.
Did you hear that sound? How could you not? It's echoing all around us.
What scientists have found during fairly recent research shows us the unseen importance in forests. They help sequester carbon by taking in Carbon Dioxide and prevent it from getting back into the atmosphere. With the help of the forests, the atmosphere has not warmed up as quickly as it should, since the forests can absorb up to 25% of the emitted Carbon Dioxide around the world (absorbing 10% of the national carbon emissions). A loss of the forests, whether through decay, or most likely, fire, immediately releases that carbon back into the atmosphere, continuing the warming of the skies.
Now, some research shows that while some forests are failing, others are being strengthened by the increase of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. Plants, of course, love that gaseous compound since they breath it in. It stands to reason that plants will do better in a slightly warmer, Carbon Dioxide-filled world. However, the skeptics of climate change damage and the denialists are using this argument to say everything is going to be just fine and we shouldn't need to alter our activities. What they are failing to accept is that with a continued rise in temperatures, even by a few degrees, the growing number of healthy forests will also begin to fall prey to the insects, diseases, and droughts that are already creeping northward and southward from their traditional boundaries of affliction.
Also, with the loss of forests comes a loss of biodiversity to an ecosystem. Not just the trees are affected, but the understory plants and all of the animals that call the forest home. This loss of biodiversity leads to a completely different ecosystem, one that may become a monoculture of invasive plants and animals, or one that at the very minimum is less healthy and less stable. Forests are not just the lungs of the Earth, they are the shelter of the Earth. With the continued attacks on environmental regulations and protections, and haggling over which protection techniques are best, we lose time and traction in the fight to reverse our negative impact on the Earth. Why should every other living thing have to suffer on behalf of our greed and ineptness to get into a cleaner, safer way of living our human lives?
When I read this article this morning, my heart broke. I have very fond memories of being in forests and observing and interacting with those types of ecosystems. I can't bear the thought of seeing them become a rare and almost unseen commodity. We've got to stop the bickering and the nay-saying in this country and actually think of the future. I don't want the future generations of the human race not knowing what a natural forest is.
Did you hear that sound? How could you not? It's echoing all around us.
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