Get News & Views Updates
Most Popular This Week
- This Is Cardboard. Also Entirely Recycled, Water and Fireproof, and Dirt Cheap.
- Sen. Sanders: Wall Street CEOs are the 'Faces of Class Warfare'
- Change Is Coming: Factory Farms' Days May Be Numbered
- The Rise of the Sharing Communities
- Sec. of State Hopeful Susan Rice Reportedly Holds 600k Stake in Keystone XL Decision
Popular content
Today's Top News
Global Warming Makes Trees Grow at Fastest Rate for 200 Years
Forests in the northern hemisphere could be growing faster now than they were 200 years ago as a result of climate change, according to a study of trees in eastern America.
Trees across North America are growing at an unprecedented rate as a result of higher temperatures and CO2 levels. (ALAMY) The trees appear to have accelerated growth rates due to longer growing seasons and higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Scientists have documented the changes to the growth of 55 plots of mixed hardwood forest over a period of 22 years, and have concluded that they are probably growing faster now than they have done at any time in the past 225 years - the age of the oldest trees in the study.
Geoffrey Parker, a forest ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre in Edgewater, Maryland, said that the increase in the rate of growth was unexpected and might be matched to the higher temperatures and longer growing seasons documented in the region. The growth may also be influenced by the significant increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, he said.
"We made a list of reasons these forests could be growing faster and then ruled half of them out," Dr Parker said. The study, which is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that northern forests may become increasingly important in terms of moderating the influence of man-made carbon dioxide on the climate.
Dr Parker and his colleagues have carried out a detailed census of the trees on a regular basis since 1987, measuring every tree and sapling that has a diameter of more than 2cm (0.78in). They calculated that the forest is producing an additional two tonnes of wood per acre each year, which is equivalent to a tree with a diameter of two feet sprouting up in the space of a year.
The scientists identified a series of plots with trees at different stages of growth and found that both young and old trees were showing increased growth rates. More than 90 per cent of the tree groups had grown by between two and four times faster than the scientists had predicted from estimates of the long-term rates of growth.
The scientists said that if the trees had grown as quickly throughout their lives as they had shown in recent years they would be much larger than they are now. They based their conclusions on 250,000 measurements taken over more than 20 years.
During the same period, the scientists measured the concentration of carbon dioxide in the forest air and found that it had risen by 12 per cent. The average temperature had increased by three-tenths of a degree, and the growing season had lengthened by 7.8 days. The scientists believe that all three factors have played a role in helping the trees to grow faster.
Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide and extended growing seasons could be favourable for agriculture in some parts of the world, mainly in the northern hemisphere. The study in Maryland suggests that the extra growth in trees could help to act as a more efficient carbon "sink", which could offset the carbon dioxide being added to the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels.
- Posted in
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
29 Comments so far
Show AllExactly as predicted by Lovelock's homeostasis theory.
Now if only we hadn't deforested so much of the world.
Hmmm...this new evidence puts global warming deniers in a bit of a pickle, methinks.
It's obviously the kind of evidence they would love to seize upon, since it reveals a potential reduction of "impact" increased CO2 levels have on the planet. (Though we need to see more firm numbers on exactly how much the tree growth offsets the carbon being put into the atmosphere.)
But to seize on this as evidence of lower impact, they'd have to admit to the larger truth of the signigicance of increased CO2 levels AND to the rise in average global temperature (through fossil fuel burning, feedback loops, etc.), and to the larger body of scientific work on climate change in general. Some of the deniers' tactics attempt to undermine the significance of carbon dioxide as well as the warming trend confirmed by peer-reviewed science.
Could make for some interesting responses. I'm preparing for some new twisted spin from the denier camps.
IMHO the climate change deniers, skeptics, or whatever you want to call them in most cases raise stupidity to the level of an art form. No matter what proof you give them, how reasoned the arguments you make they simply will not budge from their stance. To me there is something phycological going on there. I don't know if it is a fear of having to change their lives, or what, but it is very irrational and pretty disturbing.
You didn't mention the theory that the sun drives climate and that increased carbon levels follow warming rather than drive it.
"increased carbon levels follow warming rather than drive it." Always? Or just in the past? You sound so SURE...
(past warming was due to orbital effects, ie proximity to the sun. Hence, warming would HAVE to lead CO2, since it wasn't caused by CO2, duh! This particular warming, esp since 1978, is caused by CO2. Hence, CO2 leads warming, cuz that's how force/response signals are laid down. When something causes something else, it's signal LEADS that of the 'something else'. Since past warmings weren't caused by CO2, its ludicrous to expect CO2's signal to LEAD the warming. Unless you're a GW denier, and then it all makes so much 'sense'...)
Believe it or not, I have read a "research report" precisely on this topic, in 1993! That report itself was a year or too old by then. It was full of graphs and charts, talking about the faster growth of plants and trees when the CO2 concentration was higher (don't remember if it talked about temperature, though). But something didn't feel right. The report was professionally produced, with glossy cover and everything. Then somewhere I noticed an acknowledgment for funding by some office that was part of the OPEC secretariat or something to do with OPEC. I remember thinking (this was before Kyoto in 1997), yeah, it makes sense for OPEC to show that increased CO2 could be a good thing. Maybe it was some American consultants who convinced OPEC that funding such studies would be a good idea?
If you look out from one of the few tall buildings in Memphis in the summer all you will see is a canopy of green pierced by a few church steeples. This area is a dense natural forest that never gives up. Most anything will grow here - from bamboo to spruce. If a lot is cleared and then abandoned, new growth forest will cover it in twenty years or less. I've seen coppiced sycamores grow 12 feet in a single season.
Wildlife proliferates right in our urban neighborhoods. In my office park within the city limits, I've seen deer, muskrat, beaver, coyote, racoon, hawks, eagles, geese, ducks, great blue heron and innumerable other bird species. The landlord hires someone to trap the beaver and muskrat and kill the turtles to "preserve" the landscape. I've watched this for 8 years and there are more animals than ever.
This good rich soil has another characteristic that we generally choose to ignore. It is a type of sedimentary clay that is highly prone to liquifaction (turns to jello when jarred). Add this to the fact that we are sitting upon the New Madrid Seismic Zone. This was, on 2/7/1812, the epicenter of the most powerful earthquake to strike North America in recorded history. Seismologists have recorded over 4,000 "minor" jolts since 1974. Damage predictions for another "big one" are dire. Though the forest and the wildlife can ride it out, current human infrastructure cannot.
Some mornings in the pre-dawn silence I sit beneath the great old oaks in my yard and hear what might be genetic whispers from an ancient Druid ancestor. The Forest and its creatures didn't make this fight. But they are going to win.
THE PROPHECIES OF THE HOPI PEOPLE
As you wind your way through the prophecies on this site and those you may find elsewhere, you would do well to pay particular attention to the accuracy of those of the Hopi People. Their prophecies are not written in obscure, archaic language, hidden away in dusty tomes. Hopi Elders pass these warnings to the next generations through word of mouth and with reference to ancient rock drawings and tablets, keeping track of those that have been fulfilled and paying close attention to warning signs.
The following portion is from The Book of the Hopi by Frank Waters. This tidbit of Hopi prophecy, probably the only portion shared with whites at the time, has been reproduced many, many times and is usually the first glimpse of Hopi Prophecy that one encounters when researching the subject.
Emergence to the Fifth World
"The end of all Hopi ceremonialism will come when a Kachina removes his mask during a dance in the plaza before uninitiated children. For a while there will be no more ceremonies, no more faith. Then Oraibi will be rejuvenated with its faith and ceremonies, marking the start of a new cycle of Hopi life.
"World War III will be started by those peoples who first revealed the light (the divine wisdom or intelligence) in the other old countries (India, China, Islamic Nations, Africa). The United States will be destroyed, land and people, by atomic bombs and radioactivity. Only the Hopis and their homeland will be preserved as an oasis to which refugees will flee. Bomb shelters are a fallacy. "It is only materialistic people who seek to make shelters. Those who are at peace in their hearts already are in the great shelter of life. There is no shelter for evil. Those who take no part in the making of world division by ideology are ready to resume life in another world, be they Black, White, Red, or Yellow race. They are all one, brothers.
ARTICLE CONTINUED
===============
"The war will be 'a spiritual conflict with material matters. Material matters will be destroyed by spiritual beings who will remain to create one world and one nation under one power, that of the Creator.'
"That time is not far off. It will come when the Saquasohuh (Blue Star) Kachina dances in the plaza and removes his mask. He represents a blue star, far off and yet invisible, which will make its appearance soon. [Some Hopi spokespersons suggest that Hale-Bopp is the Blue Star.] The time is foretold by a song sung during the Wuwuchim ceremony. It was sung in 1914 just before World War I, and again in 1940 before World War II, describing the disunity, corruption, and hatred contaminating Hopi rituals, which were followed by the same evils spreading over the world. This same song was sung in 1961 during the Wuwuchim ceremony.
"The Emergence to the future Fifth World has begun. It is being made by the humble people of little nations, tribes, and racial minorities. 'You can read this in the earth itself. Plant forms from previous worlds are beginning to spring up as seeds. This could start a new study of botany if people were wise enough to read them. The same kinds of seeds are being planted in the sky as stars. The same kinds of seeds are being planted in our hearts. All these are the same, depending how you look at them. That is what makes the Emergence to the next, Fifth World.'
"These comprise the nine most important prophecies of the Hopis, connected with the creation of the nine worlds: the three previous worlds on which we lived, the present Fourth World, the three future worlds we have yet to experience, and the world of Taiowa, the Creator, and his nephew, Sotuknang."
[From The Book of the Hopi by Frank Waters]
White Feather, Bear Clan
"The Fourth World shall end soon, and the Fifth World will begin. This the elders everywhere know. The Signs over many years have been fulfilled, and so few are left.
"This is the First Sign: We were told of the coming of the white-skinned men, like Pahana, but not living like Pahana -- men who took the land that was not theirs and who struck their enemies with thunder. (Guns)
"This is the Second Sign: Our lands will see the coming of spinning wheels filled with voices. (Covered wagons)
"This is the Third Sign: A strange beast like a buffalo but with great long horns, will overrun the land in large numbers. (Longhorn cattle)
"This is the Fourth Sign: The land will be crossed by snakes of iron. (Railroad tracks)
"This is the Fifth Sign: The land shall be criss-crossed by a giant spider's web. (Power and telephone lines)
"This is the Sixth Sign: The land shall be criss-crossed with rivers of stone that make pictures in the sun. (Concrete roads and their mirage-producing effects.)
"This is the Seventh Sign: You will hear of the sea turning black, and many living things dying because of it. (Oil spills)
"This is the Eighth Sign: You will see many youth, who wear their hair long like our people, come and join the tribal nations, to learn our ways and wisdom. (Hippies)
"And this is the Ninth and Last Sign: You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of the Hopi people will cease.
"These are the Signs that great destruction is here: The world shall rock to and fro. The white man will battle people in other lands -- those who possessed the first light of wisdom. There will be many columns of smoke and fire such as the white man has made in the deserts not far from here. Those who stay and live in the places of the Hopi shall be safe. Then there will be much to rebuild. And soon, very soon afterward, Pahana will return. He shall bring with him the dawn of the Fifth World. He shall plant the seeds of his wisdom in our hearts. Even now the seeds are being planted. These shall smooth the way to the Emergence into the Fifth World."
Three Hopi prophesies were sung (with text translation) mentioned at the conclusion of Godfrey Reggio's film-symphony "Koyyanisquatsi."
The first: "If we dig precious things from the earth, we will invite disaster". This of course is referring to fossil fuel extraction - notably on the Hopi lands of Black Mesa, depicted in the film's second movement "Resource".
The second stated: "The day of purification will be near when webs are spun across the sky". This seems to be similar to your fifth sign. I figured it was referring to aircraft contrails.
The third states: "A container of ashes may fall from the sky, burning the land and boiling the oceans" This is vaguely like your the ninth sign. It seems to refer to a asteroid impact. But "dwelling place" suggests maybe just the ISS's orbit decaying and falling back to earth?
Not that I beleive this stuff, but it is fun to speculate.
YEAH!!!
Nature is finally backing me up!!
I have told people on Common Dreams many times in the past that nature would do this. ( most people gave me a bad reaction ).
But its so true, the more carbon dioxide each one of us breathes out and creates, the better the conditions for trees to grow and produce more oxygen for us. Its cool how God just plans it to all work out regardless of what we do.
PS. Global warming is happening to our entire solar system (all 9 planets) not just the Earth alone. This is due to the SUN and its increasing solar activity. (check it out yourself on the net:)
I didn't say God would protect you or me. I just said things would work out.
It says in the Bible the Earth Will be Destroyed.
Kinda looks like it heading that way. (duh!)
I'm just saying that in the time we do have it will all work out.
We are like flees on the back of a giant dog.
We are not going to change the dogs eating, breathing, sleeping habits, by recycling plastic.
You can't save the world. Sorry.
But It sure does keep on turning. (and not cause of you either)
By the way science and the truth should match up. Not be conflicting.
Where is your highly advanced evolving monkey race to save you now?
If evolution where true it wouldn't stop and take a break. I haven't even seen monkeys born with less hair or that can talk.
Monkeys haven't even evolved enough to escape the zoo.
What you've just written here is 100% pure nonsense. Are you demented, or trolling?
ianplank,
Your comment is a naive one based on ideology, not science.
Oceans cover over 70% of Earth. You might want to check on how CO2 is acidifying those oceans and what effect that has on plankton etc. and ultimately you.
In the short term the dangers of extinction due to the delta -the rate of increase of temperature and the local polarity of temperature swings due to global warming are severe. If you doubt this ask why certian trees only grow in particular temperature ranges.
If none of this bothers you in your ideological coccoon, you might want to consider the increase in disease carried by the exponential increase in vectors known as insects. Or will your God protect you from that too?
Others have covered parts of your comment but I will leave you this one thought:
Nature does not back anyone up.
Not according to the peer-reviewed research. The sun's "activity" has been completely negligible since about the 1980s as is pertains to global temperature, and is most likely a net negative in fact. The recent ramping up of global tempature is too great to have been caused by a correlative increase in anything from the sun, which has not seen such variation according to available data.
See this page for details on the research, including links to a number of papers/documents on the topic:
http://www.skepticalscience.com/solar-activity-sunspots-global-warming.htm
Remember, if what you're stating is fact, then there is no reason not to contact your academic science journals and submit your evidence. If you're right, every scientist worth her salt will need to adjust findings to the legitimate evidence you present. That's how science works.
That is, of course, unless you know damn well that it's junk pseudo-science, and not legitimate science, that you have to offer.
I would say its more than 'interesting'. More like 'conclusive'...
Thank you for the link and the informed commentary.
Got any other predictions under higher CO2? Ocean acidification? Higher digestibility of hi-CO2 plant tissues by bugs? Overwintering success by pine beetles? Sea level rise?
Newsflash: anyone with a biology degree would have predicted higher growth rates under higher CO2, indeed, just measuring CO2 uptake confirms it, you don't even have to measure the trees. How does that help agriculture in the West when there's no water? Or agriculture in the MidWest, when there's too much water? Or agriculture in S Florida when there's too much saltwater (its under sea level)?
Earth's response to our CO2 forcing is difficult to predict: that is ALL the rest of us have been saying! Expecting CO2 forcing to lead to a land of milk and honey is childish fantasy. In your case, its literally condemning your children to live out the consequences of your faith. Faith is so much easier, when its someone else living with the consequences...
Why in the world would these results be "unexpected"?!?
Surely scientists know enough about trees to guess that higher temperatures, longer growing seasons, and more CO2 would lead to more growth?
"Reforestation" must be one of the pillars of any effort to form a stable and sustainable technic society.
This means both the return of woodlands to their former extent AND their former health with both plantings and intensive management.
Silviculture is the way to go for much of our wooded landscape, for the rest, strict rules against mechanized interference -through no machine logging and no machine roadway rules- is the answer.
Intelligent human intervention can work to heal the damage from past interventions by supposedly intelligent humans.
-matti.
progressives, do your part. Stop driving, stop heating your homes with fossil fuels, stop using electricity made from any other source except solar or wind, stop buying plastic, and pay more taxes (just give it to the gov't). lead by example!
theowl: An example of a logical fallacy caused by BBBS (Binary Blinkered Brain Syndrome)
Another example of BBBS (sometimes shortened to just BS) is "If you are not for us you are against us".
BBBS sufferers are unable to discern nuance in anything.
>>> Another example of BBBS (sometimes shortened to just BS)...
That was so funny! So that's where it comes from!
It is always fascinating to me how paying TAXES is always so utterly offensive to some while paying inflated retail rices for total junk products or paying a huge portion of one's income for transportation because of infrastructure modes prejudiced to automobiles is accepted as normal and unoffensive.
This proves that their attitude is not even one of "I do not wish to pay for something that benefits people outside of my group more than it benefits people inside my group". Which is, after all, natural and underatandable tribalism or clannishness.
It is more like "I do not wish to pay for something that benfits people outside of my group and is within my power to control but I am okay with paying for something that benefits people outside of my group and IS NOT within my power to control because maybe one day I or my group can reap such benefits by exploiting others"
It is like a slave who refuses to help with the cooking in the slave's village but throws all his effort into planting Master's fields in the hopes that Master will see this and give him his own fields with his own slaves to use one day!!
-matti.
You assume that the government in question is using those tax revenues for some kind of good and socially beneficial purposes. This is far from the case in the US. The schools and roads are destroyed, there is no healthcare to speak of; essentially, you are paying so that Iraq and Afghanistan can be raped and pillaged, and so that the corporate leadership of credit card companies can go on extra vacations.
Ever since I emigrated to Canada, now I happily pay taxes. That was not the case when I lived in the US though.
But Canada has to pay its dues to the empire too. As a NATO member, in Afghanistan (but more by way of making up for the "official" non-participation in the Iraqi invasion), as a junior partner, in Haiti, and so on. And other costs due to NAFTA. That's the cost of doing business with the US. Of course, you get other things in return for your taxes, no doubt - such as schools, healthcare, etc.
THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY A GOOD THING
This article does not specify which type trees we're talking about here. Some of the hardwoods are being pushed further and further north, because they require a specific time of freezing weather in order to survive. The maple syrup industry in New England is watching the march of the sugar maples northward.
Other deciduous soft wood trees are indeed growing fast, much to the disappointment of tree farmers who must now clear out undergrowth more frequently in order to preserve the more valuable trees. Also, when some of the 'construction' wood grows this quickly it actually weakens the strength. And the proliferation of distructive insects....
The earth will survive! Bow before Gaia!