Tree Farts?? ... an interesting read...

"Between 1990 and 2000, satellite monitors had detected a slowing of methane flows to the atmosphere by around 20 million tonnes a year. The cause for this may have been the dramatic rate of deforestation during the same period. From 1990-2000, more than 12 percent of the world's tropical forests were hacked down.

Added to this is the anecdotal data from satellite sensors, which have occasionally spotted inexplicably large plumes of methane over old tropical forests..."

This article claims that one of Kyoto's missions (re-populating the world's forests) could have an opposing affect to that desired:

http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MTc4NTA

I still think planting trees is the way to go. The earth has had trees for almost as long as it's been in existence (well, the oldest living tree is supposed to be close to 4800 years old, anyways); the gases emitted from these trees during their life span, and even once they rot, seem to me to be insignificant compared to the CO2 emmisions that us humans have spewed forth since the industrial revolution began only 250 years ago.

posted by Unknown @ 11:27 a.m.