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Earth Home To 3 Trillion Trees, Half As Many As When Human Civilization Arose
sciencehabit writes: Earth today supports more than 3 trillion trees—eight times as many as we thought a decade ago. But that number is rapidly shrinking, according to a global tree survey released today (abstract). We are losing 15 billion trees a year to toilet paper, timber, farmland expansion, and other human needs. So even though the total count is large, the decline is "a cause for concern," says Tom Spies, a forest ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service in Corvallis, Oregon, who was not involved with the work.
But these new numbers are completely right, and actionable. I am inspired with confidence.
This /. article totally fails to cover the reality that the number of trees has gone up (entire planet covered) and down (almost no trees in ice ages) over the course of the Earth's life. That's how life is.
Not sure about the seashells, however I wonder if there might not be benefit in using say bamboo instead of traditional trees for paper products such as bumwad. It grows substantially faster and by my reckoning would translate into a smaller footprint required to produce.
Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once
Not sure about the seashells, however I wonder if there might not be benefit in using say bamboo instead of traditional trees for paper products such as bumwad. It grows substantially faster and by my reckoning would translate into a smaller footprint required to produce.
No, it's not even relevant. As much as hippies like to pretend there's something you can do in your home to help the environment, this is not a US problem. Forest coverage in the US has grown substantially since the 50s, as crop yields increase there is simply less farmland, and more forest.
Almost all paper used in the US comes from tree farms, which are just a different kind of cropland, raised and harvested on a longer cycle than corn, but still a normal-ish cash crop.
At this point, increased paper use in the US likely increases forest coverage, as more land is used for tree farms to meet demand.
Most forest loss is simply not about paper use, but about clearing land for people to live and (mostly) farm, and we've seen that the pendulum eventually swings the other way, with high-tech farming taking so much less land.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Every day, another 'how horrible human beings are' story. Look, humans are the pinnacle of this planet's long slog towards producing intelligence and of course we're going to modify our environment if we can. Any organism that has the ability to alter its environment does it to make it more habitable. Is this a bad thing? I say no. Do you want us to live in trees? Not reproduce? Keep to a nice, uncomfortable stone age existence? Yup, we cut trees. Yup, there are fewer of them. Big fucking deal. Trees are a renewable resource, and they can replenish themselves quickly. Frankly I think most of the people writing these stories have absolutely nothing useful to do with their time. The planet is changing. Deal with it. Or not, I don't care. Just shut the fuck up.
^ Shame you posted AC, that deserves to have a name put to it...
While you were harsh in your post, your feelings are fair. The "humans are evil" articles are getting old.
Well, if by "trees" we mean large swaths of Douglas Fir or Poplar monoculture, sure. If we mean a mature and diverse climax forest, no.
And so what? Why should any non-hippie care. It's not a theme park for your amusement.
If, by "renewable", we mean "we grow as many board feet as we harvest", again, no. Not even close,
Yes, 90%+ of all wood used in the US comes from tree farms now, and basically all paper (it's just cheaper for paper).
is nowhere near actually replacing what was lost.
Sure, that's not the job of the paper company anyhow. Most forest land lost over the centuries, and with farms now being very small compared to "peak farmland", forests are coming back (the natural process isn't quick, but more every decade since the 50s).
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.