Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Kill a tree, save the earth?


The traditional earth-friendly practice of planting trees may actually contribute to climate change in certain cases. Trees planted in tropical rainforests can help to slow global warming, but forests in temperate zones absorb more sunlight than unforested areas, canceling out the positive effects from the trees taking in carbon. By the year 2100, forests in mid-latitudes and high latitudes will make some places up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than if the forests weren't there.
"Although it was previously known that trees could have an overall warming effect in the boreal forests north of 50 degrees, this is the first study to show that temperate forests could lead to net global warming," said Livermore’s Seran Gibbard, lead author of the study. Read more at the Environmental News Service.

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