35 pointsby bookofjoe2 hours ago6 comments
  • sebastianconcpt20 minutes ago
    Awesome. And remember CO2 is food for plants.
  • ruined2 hours ago
    that's just about the turnover period for fast-growing pine clearcuts
  • Razengan20 minutes ago
    Trees are awesome. Wood is probably the rarest material in the known universe :)
  • l1n2 hours ago
    Blog post 2018, data ending 2016
  • 2 hours ago
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  • darth_avocado2 hours ago
    Didn’t read, but let me guess. We’re gaining more trees in countries like China where large scale project to prevent desertification exist or in places like Russia or Canada where warming climate is opening more space where trees can grow. All the while tropical countries like Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia are losing tropical forest covers in ecological hotspots because of soybean or palm oil cultivation.

    Tbh headlines like these do more damage to the climate change and ecological preservation conversation because they can be used to intentionally mislead what’s happening in the world.

    • wasabi99101130 minutes ago
      > Didn’t read, but let me guess

      Why should we let you guess?

      What do any of us gain by reading the opinion of someone who admits to being ignorant and who isn't willing to change that by reading TFA?

      • darth_avocado3 minutes ago
        I read the article after commenting. What opinion do I need to change? Seems like I was correct?
    • concrete_head17 minutes ago
      Commenters who don't read the article do more harm than good.
    • goaliecaan hour ago
      The planet is actually greening due to warmer temperatures and more co2.
    • deadbabe2 hours ago
      Trees are trees.
      • thfuranan hour ago
        That is not true in any but the most literal sense.
        • card_zeroan hour ago
          Is it true in the sense relevant to climate change?
          • unsnap_bicepsan hour ago
            Climate change is a lot of different things. For the statement that the count matters and a "tree is a tree",

            Carbon sequestration? A giant redwood stores more carbon than a fir.

            Healthy ecosystems? Different trees fit into different roles in a healthy forest.

            The loss of biodiversity? Once a forest dies, a new forest somewhere else doesn't bring back the lost biodiversity.

            In theory, Carbon sequestration is the closest to "a tree is a tree", you can plant large amounts of fast growing trees can capture more carbon over time, but that's specifying the later tree, which then matters.

            • card_zeroan hour ago
              Why did you mention ecosystems and biodiversity? Is the idea that those store more carbon, too, or was it just gratuitous?
          • Retrican hour ago
            No, a 3 foot tall sapling and a 300+ foot tall monster are both one tree but have very different impacts on the climate.

            Fast growth commercial forests have high density because the individual trees are relatively small with a vastly smaller amount of root mass.

            • an hour ago
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          • kolinkoan hour ago
            If I remember correctly, the youngest trees convert the most co2 (makes sense, they grow the fastest).
            • Retrican hour ago
              Not on a per tree basis. Young forests sequester more carbon per year because you aren’t losing old trees, however sustainable harvesting changes the dynamics here. IE a 50k year old natural forest is very close to carbon neutral, but you can harvest wood from an old forest and change the equation as you don’t need to let dead limbs or trees rot.

              Unfortunately when you cut down an old forest and convert it into a young one the old forests root mass rots thus releasing a great deal of stored carbon.

              • kolinko44 minutes ago
                Good points about the roots. TIL.
        • cucumber3732842an hour ago
          If you cut a bunch of crappy pines and borderline brush (beyond whatever trivial square foot exemption they give you) the environmental authorities will be on your case same as if you cut down a 120yo hardwood forest.

          Can't have your cake and eat it too. Either they're all the same or they're not.

      • mmooss16 minutes ago
        IIRC, there is no actual 'tree' biologically - there is no taxonomic group of 'trees'. It's a colloquial word for 'tall woody plant' or something like that.