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26 billion trees are currently being burned down every year while only 15 billion are replanted. Glad to see we're replanting a substantial amount of trees tak
by meric 12y ago
26 billion trees are currently being burned down every year while only 15 billion are replanted.
Glad to see we're replanting a substantial amount of trees taken down every year, this gap looks closable. I had in my mind much closer to 5% or 10%...
- adamnemecek 12y agoWhile it's better than nothing, the newly planted trees actually cannot replace the old trees. You can read about the reasons why for example here http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/issues/replant-rainforest.htm http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/... (I'd do a TL;DR but it's actually pretty complicated, as ancient ecosystems tend to be).
- jmpeax 12y agoIt depends what you mean by "replace". It can be anywhere on the spectrum from an exact clone of each tree, to the same count of trees. You're looking at a narrow part of spectrum of the meaning of "replace" where you consider the ecosystems affected by the removal of trees. Another narrow spectrum of the meaning could be restoring the absorption rate of carbon dioxide. I'm pretty sure firing seeds from the air constitutes replacing the rough count of trees.
- adamnemecek 12y agoDid you read the article?
- iwwr 12y agoThe US and Europe is more forested now than it was 100 years ago, on average. Wood is no longer needed for fuel and ship building. Most commercial logging now goes on in managed 'tree farms' rather than virgin woodlands.
- reitanqild 12y agoAround here it is actually consider a problem: Areas that has been cultivated for hundreds of years are now filling up with bushes and trees because small scale farming is declining quickly and the larger ones don't send livestock out to grass in these areas.
- riffraff 12y agowhere is your here?
- reitanqild 12y agoLate but I'm in Norway, at least for now.
- praxulus 12y agoWhy is that a problem? If we don't need to use the land for farming or grazing, what's the harm in letting it fill up with bushes and trees?
- DanBC 12y agoYou lose an ecosysem and some of the plants and animals adapted to that ecosystem. I'd be interested to know if there's much difference between managed and unmanaged mini wilderness -- can you just leave a few fields to go wild and it'll turn out okay or do humans need to steer it for the first few years?
- iwwr 12y agoFrom what I've heard from farmers, fields left to the wild are hard to clear and it's more difficult to return to agriculture after a few years. As a matter of real-estate the value goes down.
- toephu2 12y ago"The US and Europe is more forested now than it was 100 years ago" source? (hope it's not your ass)