3 ms·

Finally! Trees are fantastic creatures. (I'd happily go as far as calling them Beings, but I'm afraid it would sound like some kind of a new age esoteric bull

Finally! Trees are fantastic creatures. (I'd happily go as far as calling them Beings, but I'm afraid it would sound like some kind of a new age esoteric bullshit, even so I'm borderline convinced they are sentient.) The important thing that fascinates me is how Tree actually work. They are generally perceived as growing from the soil to the atmosphere. However, the opposite is true. About 98% of the material of a tree is originated from the air, namely the carbon extracted from the CO2 content of the air. Trees are literally growing from the air, and piercing down into the soil to get water to run their Calvin cycles to extract the carbon and produce the ATP. Knowing this, I'd be more than surprised if Trees - or plants in general - haven't had any methods to control their food source: the atmosphere. I believe they do. And by destroying them, we are limiting this control. Looking from this angle, there is very little surprise in the onset of weather extremes. I summary, I'm very happy with this legislation. I hope this a first step in many that is actually going to help us taming the climate of our planet again. With more trees. Because trees are awesome.

MisterTea 3mo ago
> Knowing this, I'd be more than surprised if Trees - or plants in general - haven't had any methods to control their food source: the atmosphere. I believe they do. Recently there was an article posted here that claimed trees do have some ability to control the weather. The claim is trees simultaneously release water vapor into the atmosphere influencing rains.
- meristohm 3mo ago
  Yep! Evaporation through leaf stomata creates the internal pressure drop that pulls water from the earth into the roots.
deleted 3mo ago
[deleted]
bloppe 3mo ago
I love trees, but I wonder where this legislation is headed. It sure sounds like it's creating the conditions for regulating trees on private land. This could have some perverse incentives. A tree on your land could become a liability. It could lower the value of your property, because you won't be able to sell it to someone who wants to build something that might interfere with that tree. Would that actually discourage people from planting trees in the first place?
- quasse 3mo ago
  This is already the case in Seattle. It's hard to tell if the law was originally created with any good intention or if it was just NIMBYism from the start. Regardless, the net result has been 100% NIMBY warriors using it to block as much infill and urbanization as possible. We've got "Tree Action" organizations that jump in and use the law to block low income apartment buildings and construction of sidewalks leading to transit stations. Random example: https://www.treeactionseattle.org/campaigns/first-ave-shade-trees https://www.treeactionseattle.org/campaigns/first-ave-shade-...
blooalien 3mo ago
I seem to remember kinda recently-ish reading about a discovery that trees also rely on an extensive sub-surface (underground) mycelium network for "communication" of a sort. Let's hope they never become actually sentient and decide humanity's a threat (like in a certain Stephen King movie I watched once). :grin:

MisterTea 3mo ago

> Knowing this, I'd be more than surprised if Trees - or plants in general - haven't had any methods to control their food source: the atmosphere. I believe they do. Recently there was an article posted here that claimed trees do have some ability to control the weather. The claim is trees simultaneously release water vapor into the atmosphere influencing rains.

meristohm 3mo ago
Yep! Evaporation through leaf stomata creates the internal pressure drop that pulls water from the earth into the roots.

deleted 3mo ago

[deleted]

bloppe 3mo ago

I love trees, but I wonder where this legislation is headed. It sure sounds like it's creating the conditions for regulating trees on private land. This could have some perverse incentives. A tree on your land could become a liability. It could lower the value of your property, because you won't be able to sell it to someone who wants to build something that might interfere with that tree. Would that actually discourage people from planting trees in the first place?

quasse 3mo ago
This is already the case in Seattle. It's hard to tell if the law was originally created with any good intention or if it was just NIMBYism from the start. Regardless, the net result has been 100% NIMBY warriors using it to block as much infill and urbanization as possible. We've got "Tree Action" organizations that jump in and use the law to block low income apartment buildings and construction of sidewalks leading to transit stations. Random example: https://www.treeactionseattle.org/campaigns/first-ave-shade-trees https://www.treeactionseattle.org/campaigns/first-ave-shade-...

blooalien 3mo ago

I seem to remember kinda recently-ish reading about a discovery that trees also rely on an extensive sub-surface (underground) mycelium network for "communication" of a sort. Let's hope they never become actually sentient and decide humanity's a threat (like in a certain Stephen King movie I watched once). :grin: