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> 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 at
by 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 agoNot 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 agoWhat 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 agoAh, 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