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Because planting trees is a bad idea on its own merits somehow?

by rosser 10y ago

DanBC 10y ago
Yes, it can be. Dense planting means the canopy can prevent rain getting to the ground and the trees take a lot of the water that does get to the ground which means aquifers are not replenished. The dry ground and dry trees pose an increased fire risk. Burning the tree releases any captured carbon, and a bunch of smoke. New forests crowd out and change existing eco systems, meaning many animals are lost to the area.
- ageofwant 10y ago
  I highly doubt temperate or even tropical forest canopies will prevent water from reaching ground level. Gravity does not work that way. Trees shade soil reducing evaporation levels. Trees also significantly reduce surface winds further reducing evaporation. Yes trees do potentially use more water which is exactly what you want, what is the purpose of full aquifers flowing into the sea ? In Australia removal of trees has lead to increased salinity levels affecting 2 Million hectares (In WA alone) of arable land degrading vast swathes of it rendering it unusable for both modern agriculture and pre-agricultural "natural" use. This is precisely because the trees kept the high-salinity water table below surface root levels.
- rosser 10y ago
  > New forests crowd out and change existing eco systems, meaning many animals are lost to the area. I'd be happy with merely replacing some of the forests that we cut down in the first place. You know, if we're going to make arguments premised on human activity altering extant ecosystems, and all...
ams6110 10y ago
Well if you imagine planting trees in vast numbers where there are none today, that will have a rather dramatic environmental impact on any species currently living there. Possibly leading to endangerment or extinctions. A price worth paying, perhaps, but others won't agree.
- the8472 10y ago
  Lots of land used to be forested and only was deforested due to human activities in the first place. Take the mediterranean coast[0] or iceland[1] for example. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_during_the_Roman_period https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_during_the_Roman... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Iceland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Iceland

Because planting trees is a bad idea on its own merits somehow?

by rosser 10y ago

Because planting trees is a bad idea on its own merits somehow?

DanBC 10y ago

Yes, it can be. Dense planting means the canopy can prevent rain getting to the ground and the trees take a lot of the water that does get to the ground which means aquifers are not replenished. The dry ground and dry trees pose an increased fire risk. Burning the tree releases any captured carbon, and a bunch of smoke. New forests crowd out and change existing eco systems, meaning many animals are lost to the area.

ageofwant 10y ago
I highly doubt temperate or even tropical forest canopies will prevent water from reaching ground level. Gravity does not work that way. Trees shade soil reducing evaporation levels. Trees also significantly reduce surface winds further reducing evaporation. Yes trees do potentially use more water which is exactly what you want, what is the purpose of full aquifers flowing into the sea ? In Australia removal of trees has lead to increased salinity levels affecting 2 Million hectares (In WA alone) of arable land degrading vast swathes of it rendering it unusable for both modern agriculture and pre-agricultural "natural" use. This is precisely because the trees kept the high-salinity water table below surface root levels.
rosser 10y ago
> New forests crowd out and change existing eco systems, meaning many animals are lost to the area. I'd be happy with merely replacing some of the forests that we cut down in the first place. You know, if we're going to make arguments premised on human activity altering extant ecosystems, and all...

ams6110 10y ago

Well if you imagine planting trees in vast numbers where there are none today, that will have a rather dramatic environmental impact on any species currently living there. Possibly leading to endangerment or extinctions. A price worth paying, perhaps, but others won't agree.

the8472 10y ago
Lots of land used to be forested and only was deforested due to human activities in the first place. Take the mediterranean coast[0] or iceland[1] for example. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_during_the_Roman_period https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_during_the_Roman... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Iceland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Iceland