5 ms·

Did some programming on the Kyoto accord. At the time, old forests were thought to be carbon neutral (e.g. in a steady state), while a growing forest clearly ab

Did some programming on the Kyoto accord. At the time, old forests were thought to be carbon neutral (e.g. in a steady state), while a growing forest clearly absorbs carbon, and we assumed cut trees were released carbon into the atmosphere. I am curious about the last assumption: Wood products can hang around for quite a while, so while long-term decomposition may release their carbon into the atmosphere, in the short term we have some very old wood around. Hell, maybe we could grow trees and sink them into oxygen-deprived water where they never decay. Ultimately investment in this area has been reduced as the truth could be very inconvenient for the economies that rely on tree farming or land created by deforestation. See the disgraceful yellow blob: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol

danmaz74 11y ago
Thanks, great answer!
hackuser 11y ago
> I am curious about the last assumption: Wood products can hang around for quite a while, so while long-term decomposition may release their carbon into the atmosphere, in the short term we have some very old wood around. I have a hard time thinking of significant amounts of wood that doesn't decompose, unless treated by humans. There are exceptions, including petrified wood or maybe wood in oxygen-deprived water (I don't know much about that) but I doubt it adds up to much. I know I've read studies about the carbon released by decaying organic matter in rivers and river deltas; it's a well-studied process as far as I know.
- nerd_stuff 11y ago
  Not to nitpick but because this is really cool: petrified wood is actually stone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrified_wood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrified_wood
- chadzawistowski 11y ago
  What about architecture? There are plenty of buildings which have lasted over 100 years.
  - hackuser 11y ago
    > What about architecture? There are plenty of buildings which have lasted over 100 years. Agreed. That's what I was thinking of to when I wrote, "unless treated by humans".
    - chadzawistowski 11y ago
      Ah, I was thinking of pressure-treated wood [0][1] as opposed to "raw" wood. [0] http://www.homedepot.com/c/discover_benefit_pressure_treated_wood_HT_BG_LC http://www.homedepot.com/c/discover_benefit_pressure_treated... [1] http://www.strongtie.com/productuse/ptwoodfaqs.html http://www.strongtie.com/productuse/ptwoodfaqs.html

danmaz74 11y ago

Thanks, great answer!

hackuser 11y ago

> I am curious about the last assumption: Wood products can hang around for quite a while, so while long-term decomposition may release their carbon into the atmosphere, in the short term we have some very old wood around. I have a hard time thinking of significant amounts of wood that doesn't decompose, unless treated by humans. There are exceptions, including petrified wood or maybe wood in oxygen-deprived water (I don't know much about that) but I doubt it adds up to much. I know I've read studies about the carbon released by decaying organic matter in rivers and river deltas; it's a well-studied process as far as I know.

nerd_stuff 11y ago
Not to nitpick but because this is really cool: petrified wood is actually stone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrified_wood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrified_wood
chadzawistowski 11y ago
What about architecture? There are plenty of buildings which have lasted over 100 years.
- hackuser 11y ago
  > What about architecture? There are plenty of buildings which have lasted over 100 years. Agreed. That's what I was thinking of to when I wrote, "unless treated by humans".
  - chadzawistowski 11y ago
    Ah, I was thinking of pressure-treated wood [0][1] as opposed to "raw" wood. [0] http://www.homedepot.com/c/discover_benefit_pressure_treated_wood_HT_BG_LC http://www.homedepot.com/c/discover_benefit_pressure_treated... [1] http://www.strongtie.com/productuse/ptwoodfaqs.html http://www.strongtie.com/productuse/ptwoodfaqs.html