Preliminary Study Data: Increased Carbon Levels Spark Extra Growth In Trees

• November 18, 2008

And thus increased CO2 consumption from the trees overall, according to preliminary data from a long-term study funded by the DOT.

The 10-year experiment in Oak Ridge showed that higher levels of carbon dioxide enhanced productivity of sweetgum trees – at least for a while. Absorption of carbon dioxide and conversion to wood, leaves, roots and sugars took place at an increased rate.
“This is important because if forests across the Earth absorb carbon from the atmosphere a bit faster, the carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustions won’t build up quite as fast, and the greenhouse effect causing climate change will be slowed,” Norby said, emphasizing that the change won’t be stopped.
The increased productivity occurred mostly below ground, the scientist said. Instead of making more wood in the trunk, the trees enriched with carbon dioxide made more roots, he said. These fine roots only live for about a year and then deposit their carbon into the soil, he said.

This illustrates one of the areas of the “global warming” debate that seldom gets talked about: Our environment’s amazing ability to adapt.
Let’s remember that so-called “pollutants” like CO2 (which every animal on this planet exhales) occur naturally in nature. Is it really so surprising that nature would be able to evolve to compensate for higher levels of it in the atmosphere?
While nothing is for sure, the truth may be that our environment is perfectly capable of adapting to increased human carbon emissions and that any radical efforts to curb them (or eliminate them altogether as some climate change disciples call for, though that would require us all to stop breathing) are simply a waste of time.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Politics

http://Array Politically Incorrect

This makes good sense. One would think objective scientists as a whole would be able to take into account the buffering effect of living nature.
bill-tb

Often overlooked, on purpose mostly, is what happens when those ‘carbon sequestering’ trees burn. Most fires worldwide are man caused, agricultural fires, for land clearing. Go here to see what’s burning http://firefly.geog.umd.edu/firemap/. I bet you didn’t know.
http://www.valleydeals.com/cgi-bin/board2/YaBB.pl Kevin

algore thinks you are. Of course, he also promoted that Y2K fiasco.
robert108

Water is also a poison in great enough quantities; any more hoaxes you want to push, Woof?
RebTex

We can’t have all those oxygen producers growing willy nilly!
If the O2 levels raise much more, we’ll all be light-headed.
robert108

So, CO2 is not a “pollutant”, then?
ews48

The trees are nice. More than likely plant growth has developed that has kept everything in balance as the C02 levels have fluctuated naturally over billions of years.

You have to wonder what kind of mutations might occur if the C02 levels are suddenly, in Mother nature terms, driven to an unnaturally high amount. Perhaps something that would be a C02 glutton rapidly reproducing its self while killing all of the other plant life and not producing Oxygen? Perhaps, during maybe 5,000 years, humans could evolve into something that thrives on whatever was left, maybe hydrogen.

Let’s keep running the experiment and see what we get.
sjpentax67

One might say that CO2 is a nutrient.
robert108

Your nonsensical paranoid fantasies are noted. What are your other favorite hoaxes?
Mickey

I like trees. Especially cut and split into 16 inch long pieces in my fireplace.
knowbama

Within a few minutes to an hour after exposure to concentrations between 7 and 10 percent, unconsciousness, dizziness, headache, visual and hearing dysfunction, mental depression, shortness of breath, and sweating have been observed

That’s what caused the fainting when obama speaks?
RebTex

D.E.V.O.
RebTex

I like the DHMO scare.
Always funny among the un-informed!
http://www.fileitunder.com/ Rob B.

Ewes, you had said:

You have to wonder what kind of mutations might occur if the C02 levels are suddenly, in Mother nature terms, driven to an unnaturally high amount.

There is an answer, because it’s happened. In the 90′s Mt Pinatubo’s erruption did that very thing. The global effect was 1 degree C of cooling. (For the same reason that sunglasses work, reflection of energy.) Locally, the plant life had a huge growht spurt due to the CO2 rich area. This was followed by a spike in O2, due to photosynthesis.

It’s not too suprising, because it’s a biofeedback mechanism to the enviroment that allowed the plant rapid growth due to more food. in return animal life and O2 level adjusted to the increase of vegatation. However, unlike theorizing, this was an studied example of nature creating equlibria in a localized area.

From a geologic standpoint, this is even lees suprising because if plant and animal life were as fragile as some people assumes they are we wouldn’t be alive because the dynamic stresses placed on the planet due to volcanism and glaciation would have depopulated the planet of all life.
Brainmaggot

Anyone who claims to predict climate change is fool there is not even enough data make a bad guess and that’s what they are doing.
robert108

Our environment’s amazing ability to adapt.

We are part of that environment. We might adapt as well, no?–

Even a blind squirrel…
That is why the environazis have it wrong; they want to devolve to earlier technology and earlier population levels, which is not what adaptation is. It’s evolution, not devolution. Thought an evolutionist like you would understand that, Sparkie.
Doug

What is so stupefying about this CO2 business…
Didn’t we learn in like…5th grade biology, that trees
and plants use CO2 and produce oxygen. People use oxygen and
produce CO2. It all works in a natural balanced cycle…AM I WRONG ABOUT THIS???
WOOFX

At concentrations greater than 17 percent, such as those encountered during carbon dioxide fire suppressant use, loss of controlled and purposeful activity, unconsciousness, convulsions, coma, and death occur within 1 minute of initial inhalation of carbon dioxide (OSHA 1989, CCOHS 1990, Dalgaard et al. 1972, CATAMA 1953, Lambertsen 1971). At exposures between 10 and 15 percent, carbon dioxide has been shown to cause unconsciousness, drowsiness, severe muscle twitching, and dizziness within several minutes (Wong 1992, CATAMA 1953, Sechzer et al. 1960). Within a few minutes to an hour after exposure to concentrations between 7 and 10 percent, unconsciousness, dizziness, headache, visual and hearing dysfunction, mental depression, shortness of breath, and sweating have been observed (Schulte 1964, CATAMA 1953, Dripps and Comroe 1947, Wong 1992, Sechzer et al. 1960, OSHA 1989). Exposures to 4 to 7 percent carbon dioxide can result in headache; hearing and visual disturbances; increased blood pressure; dyspnea, or difficulty breathing; mental depression; and tremors (Schulte 1964; Consolazio et al. 1947; White et al. 1952; Wong 1992; Kety and Schmidt 1948; Gellhorn 1936; Gellhorn and Spiesman 1934, 1935; Schulte 1964)
http://www.epa.gov/ozone/snap/fire/co2/co2report.html
http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/sparkiearbuckle sayanything-81

Our environment’s amazing ability to adapt.

We are part of that environment. We might adapt as well, no?

SayAnythingBlog.com

Preliminary Study Data: Increased Carbon Levels Spark Extra Growth In Trees

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