STUDY: FIGHTING GLOBAL WARMING BY PLANTING TREES IS DUBIOUS

[SUMMARY: See other articles posted on science that 50-70% cuts in
emissions
are needed, not merely Kyoto's 5%, to avoid major disruptions of the 
Earth. Meanwhile, Kyoto's 5% is in reality less than 5% since under
pressure from not only the U.S. but several other countries, "credits"
for planting trees were put in. These have long been dubious, see e.g.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1426000/1426453.stm
more than two years ago. Now additional evidence shows the time
for games is over, real cuts, which will HELP the economy if serious
investment in wind power and other renewables are made, are critical
-ED]

'No solution' found in more trees
By Richard Black
BBC science correspondent 

Planting trees in the Amazon to curb global warming is unlikely to
work.

Brazilian and US scientists have found the rainforest emits more of
the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide than it absorbs when conditions are
very wet.

Their report, published in the journal Science, comes just three days
before the latest United Nations negotiations on climate change take
place in Milan.

The researchers say previous studies have almost certainly
over-estimated how much CO2 the Amazon can take in.

The study by Scott Saleska, from Harvard University in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, is pertinent because the idea of using forests to curb
global warming forms a central plank of the Kyoto Protocol.

The treaty allows countries to plant new trees and conserve old
forests rather then cut the amount of greenhouse gases they produce.

But this latest research undertaken over three years in the Amazon
provides graphic new evidence that the relationship between trees and
carbon dioxide is a complex one.

Saleska's study of old-growth Amazonian rainforest shows clearly that
drought or other disturbances that kill trees can lead to higher
levels of carbon dioxide release.

These increases in carbon loss occur during wet seasons when the dead
wood breaks down, not during the dry season as has been generally
found.

Many environmentalists believe that politicians have run ahead of
scientific understanding in giving forestry such prominence in the
Kyoto Protocol.

They argue tree planting has been seized on not because it is good
science, but because it is politically expedient.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3246938.stm


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