4 ms·

> A lot of the carbon that first goes into the trees eventually ends up in the soil, which if left undisturbed (i.e. not used for farming) is stable Stable, as

> A lot of the carbon that first goes into the trees eventually ends up in the soil, which if left undisturbed (i.e. not used for farming) is stable Stable, as in the amount of carbon that is captured is offset by the amount that is released? That sounds like after a short while forests become carbon neutral, unless we cut the trees down and do something to prevent the wood from burning or decomposing. I think we are in agreement?

marginalia_nu 3y ago
There's a lot more biomass in an older forest than a younger one, especially a planted forest. Carbon capture will slow down, granted, but a forest takes hundreds if not thousands of years to reach true equilibrium. There's an immediately obvious difference in biosphere density if you step into a forest that was cut and re-planted a fifty years ago, one that was slash-and-burned a hundred years ago, and primeval forest that's been around since the end of the ice age. There's just a lot more stuff growing in a forest the older it gets. Trees keep growing for a very long time as well, easily doubling or even quadrupling the biomass of a younger tree. All the fossil-sourced carbon we've put into the air the last 100 years or so was, at one point or another put into the ground, mostly by vegetation. Re-planting forest isn't probably in its own an adequate solution, but it shouldn't be dismissed entirely. Compared to active carbon sequestration, the energy cost of letting a forest grow is negligibly low.
- david-gpu 3y ago
  > All the fossil-sourced carbon we've put into the air the last 100 years or so was, at one point or another put into the ground, mostly by vegetation. As I understand it, carbon comes from plant matter indeed, back from the Carboniferous period. Back then no life form had evolved that was able to break down wood lignin, so wood could not decompose. That stopped around 300 million years ago when certain fungi evolved, which is why carbon is no longer produced and thus remains a fossil fuel. Forests are essentially carbon neutral according to every source I can find. I'll be happy to learn otherwise.
kaba0 3y ago
Forests are carbon storage. They sorta become carbon neutral over time, but they generally won’t burn by themselves in many kinds of climates.

marginalia_nu 3y ago

There's a lot more biomass in an older forest than a younger one, especially a planted forest. Carbon capture will slow down, granted, but a forest takes hundreds if not thousands of years to reach true equilibrium. There's an immediately obvious difference in biosphere density if you step into a forest that was cut and re-planted a fifty years ago, one that was slash-and-burned a hundred years ago, and primeval forest that's been around since the end of the ice age. There's just a lot more stuff growing in a forest the older it gets. Trees keep growing for a very long time as well, easily doubling or even quadrupling the biomass of a younger tree. All the fossil-sourced carbon we've put into the air the last 100 years or so was, at one point or another put into the ground, mostly by vegetation. Re-planting forest isn't probably in its own an adequate solution, but it shouldn't be dismissed entirely. Compared to active carbon sequestration, the energy cost of letting a forest grow is negligibly low.

david-gpu 3y ago
> All the fossil-sourced carbon we've put into the air the last 100 years or so was, at one point or another put into the ground, mostly by vegetation. As I understand it, carbon comes from plant matter indeed, back from the Carboniferous period. Back then no life form had evolved that was able to break down wood lignin, so wood could not decompose. That stopped around 300 million years ago when certain fungi evolved, which is why carbon is no longer produced and thus remains a fossil fuel. Forests are essentially carbon neutral according to every source I can find. I'll be happy to learn otherwise.

kaba0 3y ago

Forests are carbon storage. They sorta become carbon neutral over time, but they generally won’t burn by themselves in many kinds of climates.