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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Axing the pine forests 'would slow global warming'
2007-04-10
Cutting down pine forests in snowy regions could theoretically help to reduce global warming,
and reduce crime!
a study has shown. Trees in icy parts of the world increase the Earth's absorption of sunlight by shading reflective snow, scientists claim. This type of forest adds more to global warming than it takes away by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Clearing away the mighty pine forests of Chateau Gore, Canada and northern Europe could slow down climate change, the findings suggest.
"In order to save the village, we had to destroy it."
But the US authors of the study are quick to point out that they do not advocate such a drastic strategy. Dr Ken Caldeira, one of the researchers from the Carnegie Institution in Washington, said: "A primary reason we are trying to slow global warming is to protect nature. It just makes no sense to destroy natural ecosystems in the name of saving natural ecosystems."
"We're jus' sayin', is all."
The research, published in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, simulated the effects of large-scale deforestation, taking account of the positive and negative effects on climate of tree cover at different latitudes. It found that trees in snowy parts of the world actually warm the Earth. Tropical forests, on the other hand, had the opposite effect. They helped to keep the planet at an even temperature by removing large amounts of carbon, and generating reflective clouds.
My head hurtz. I gotta lie down.
I'd love to publish in PNAS. And they run this crap instead?
Posted by:Seafarious

#19  wxjames, you jest but the Southern Pine Borrer Beetle has devastated large areas in the South. The effects can especially be seen around Oak Ridge.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2007-04-10 19:05  

#18  old snakehead? LOL
Posted by: Frank G   2007-04-10 16:39  

#17  Frank, I was thinkin' more James Carville myself...
Posted by: Seafarious   2007-04-10 16:38  

#16  Would this be pining for the fnords?
Posted by: no mo uro   2007-04-10 16:35  

#15  Re: 3dc: think this through: if one of the firefly genes mutate, does that mean the whole tree would go dark????
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2007-04-10 14:42  

#14  that would be Kenny Rogers of the Detroit Tigers?
Posted by: Frank G   2007-04-10 13:51  

#13  Lesser Pine Tar Weevil. LOL.
Posted by: Seafarious   2007-04-10 13:46  

#12  What about the Lesser Pine Tar Weevil ?
Posted by: wxjames   2007-04-10 13:21  

#11  Snow?

Unless The Gorinator is in town, GW is going to make more snow???
Posted by: anonymous2u   2007-04-10 13:07  

#10  Thank God Gaia for them Haitian glaciers
Posted by: Frank G   2007-04-10 12:35  

#9  All the animals in the cleared forest would move to cities and get welfare.

Ultimately, if you eradicate all life on earth, then climate change here becomes irrelevant. But Martians would have a much cleaner solar warming measurement model. Think global, act planetary!
Posted by: john   2007-04-10 12:34  

#8  Wait? Wha..? This makes my head hurt.

it's the axe part DarthVader, use a chainsaw instead.
Posted by: RD   2007-04-10 11:58  

#7  Trees in icy parts of the world increase the Earth's absorption of sunlight by shading reflective snow, scientists claim. This type of forest adds more to global warming than it takes away by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

Sounds almost like global warming is coming from the Sun, and not from Carbon Dioxide and man-made pollutants. Heretics!
Posted by: rjschwarz   2007-04-10 11:21  

#6  Really good idea. Just think of the really really big houses Gore and Edwards could build with all that extra wood and space!
Posted by: tu3031   2007-04-10 09:55  

#5  Wait? Wha..? This makes my head hurt.

To save the planet, we must destroy it? I thought we were doing that already...
Posted by: DarthVader   2007-04-10 09:40  

#4  Don't tell me.... pine tree farts cause global warming.

Plus Global Warming causes increased carbon dioxide not the other way around.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2007-04-10 09:30  

#3  Shading the reflective snow, and absorbing the energy themselves, via their foliage, Jackal. It makes a certain degree of sense. About as much as the algae-seeding notions for carbon sequestration, at any rate.
Posted by: Mitch H.   2007-04-10 09:15  

#2  Trees in icy parts of the world increase the Earth's absorption of sunlight by shading reflective snow

Huh? If the trees are shading it, does it matter how reflective the snow is? You could cover the snow with aluminum foil (shiny side up) and it wouldn't make any difference if the trees are blocking the sunlight.

I'm glad that, being a rocket scientist, I deal with straightforward concepts.
Posted by: Jackal   2007-04-10 08:22  

#1  If they do I want them to replant with bio-engineered pine trees modified with firefly genes to flash for about 12 days plus/minus the Winter Solstice. Then we have beautiful Merry Christmas with no lights to string.

In the Southern Hemisphere the trees should be modified to flash around the Summer Solstice for the same reason.

Posted by: 3dc   2007-04-10 00:31  

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