Go Back   I-Mockery Forum > I-Mockery Discussion Forums > Philosophy, Politics, and News
FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #26  
mburbank mburbank is offline
The Moxie Nerve Food Tonic
mburbank's Avatar
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: right behind you
mburbank has disabled reputation
Old May 8th, 2003, 09:29 AM       
Since Vince is too lazy to do his own work, I found a reference for him. It was really hard. I enetered the words 'trees' 'emissions' and 'Nature' into a search engine.

Here's the article. Read for context. This is just the old Regan trees pollute Canard.



Associated Press

E-mail this Article E-mail this Article
Print this Article Print this Article

Ottawa — Coniferous forests around the world may be emitting more smog-causing nitrogen oxides than traffic and industry combined, suggests a report in the prestigious journal Nature.

The report, released Wednesday, flies in the face of the accepted view that forests reduce pollution by absorbing it — a theory Canada relied on in demanding credit for forests as pollution "sinks" under the Kyoto climate change accord.

But environmentalists aren't about to blacklist Scotch pine trees. They note that forest emissions are part of a natural balance that has existed since pre-industrial times and say man-made emissions are behind most pollution and global warming.

Scotch pine needles release nitrogen oxides directly into the atmosphere when exposed to ultraviolet light, says a study led by Perrti Hari of the University of Helsinki.

Nitrogen oxides are smog precursors: They combine with other pollutants to form ground-level ozone, a major component of smog.

The emissions from Scotch pines increase in proportion to the amount of ultraviolet radiation they receive, says the study.

"Although this contribution is insignificant on a local scale, our findings suggest that global NOx emissions from boreal coniferous forests may be comparable to those produced by worldwide industrial and traffic sources," says the report.

Former U.S. president Ronald Reagan caused an uproar in 1980 when he said trees cause just as much pollution as cars.

Quentin Chiotti, a scientist with Toronto-based Pollution Probe, acknowledged that forests contribute a variety of chemicals to the atmosphere, but was surprised at the comparison with traffic and industry.

"If I walk through a forest am I going to be at risk for my cardiac and respiratory health? Unless it's a very unusual forest ... I can't imagine our health being at risk."

Even though the emissions may seem large when calculated for the globe they have no local health effects because they are diluted in the global atmosphere, he said.

Henry Hengeveld, a scientist with Environment Canada, said emissions from vegetation are part of a balance that doesn't change much over time.

"They should be pretty steady at a pre-industrial level," he said.

What matters for human health is the increments to that background level, he said.

Kevin Percy of the Canadian Forest Service in Fredericton said he has problems with the suggestion that emissions from coniferous trees could exceed those from traffic and industry.

"From my perspective, that would be pure conjecture at this point."


To give Vinth his due, he was not wrong that this report exists, he was even correct as to where iit was published. If in the future he looked shit up before saying something (and seriously, it takes, literally, seconds) he'd increase his credability.

Here's the problem, though. While conifers will produce some greenhouse gasses when exposed to UV light, the amount they are producing is going DOWN not up. Why? The amount of evergreens on Earth is significantly less right now than at any time in the fossil record of earth. Moreover, the benefits of Evergreens far outweigh their the costs, and you can't engineer more efficient trees. When cars start preventing soil errosion, providing habitats and renewable resources and emitting Oxygen, I'll be somehwta more forgiving reguarding their greenhouse gasses.

Now! Vinth! On to cow farts and Methane pollution!
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

   


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:27 PM.


© 2008 I-Mockery.com
Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.