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How does it follow that there's no net effect on climate (or amount of atmospheric carbon) if the tree is cut down? I can only see that if the timber is burned
by tomjakubowski 7y ago
How does it follow that there's no net effect on climate (or amount of atmospheric carbon) if the tree is cut down? I can only see that if the timber is burned for fuel. If someone instead carved the timber up into N skateboards, modulo waste, the carbon would stay with the skateboards.
- kingbirdy 7y agoSkateboards don't stay skateboards forever. Eventually they'll be thrown out, where they'll degrade & eventually decompose, re-releasing the stored CO2.
- ralusek 7y agoMostly into the ground, no? Isn't that how petroleum was formed in the first place?
- kingbirdy 7y agoIt depends entirely on where the skateboards and other wood-derived waste ends up. If it's not properly disposed of (e.g. litter), then it will release most/all of it into the atmosphere. If it's incinerated, it's all released. If it's in a landfill, it depends on whether and how effectively the landfill is sealed.
- fucking_tragedy 7y agoProbably not. Most of the oil we find comes from a period when very few organisms could break down waste from dead trees and plants.
- finnh 7y agoTrue, but my model of CO2 is that its damage is proportional to the area under the curve (quanity CO2 * time in atmosphere). So deferring that C02 release by 10 years is strictly a win, b/c you haven't incurred the climate effects of that C02 for those 10 years.
- bacon_waffle 7y agoEven if the trees are burned for fuel, that may offset some amount of burning fossil fuel and so be a net win.