ABOUT THE WORLD’S TREES

THE MATH IN TERMS OF LAND AREA

1. THERE ARE 8.7E9 HECTARES OF LAND ON EARTH WHERE TREES CAN BE GROWN.
2. OF THAT, 5.5E9 HECTARES ALREADY HAVE TREES.
3. THIS MEANS THAT THE MAXIMUM PHOTOSYNTHESIS IMPACT OF HUMANS PLANTING TREES IS (8.7-5.5)/8.7 OR LESS THAN 37%. OF TOTAL LAND PHOTOSYNTHESIS.
4. HOWEVER, 50% TO 80% OF THE WORLD’S PHOTOSYNTHESIS IS IN THE OCEAN. TAKING THE MIDPOINT OF THIS RANGE WE CAN SAY THAT ON AVERAGE THE OCEAN PROVIDES 65% OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND LAND ONLY 35%.
5. THEREFORE, THE MAXIMUM HUMAN IMPACT OF PLANTING TREES IS TO INCREASE PHOTOSYNTHESIS BY 37% OF 35% OR ABOUT 13% AT MOST.
6. THIS MAXIMUM POSSIBLE IMPACT OF HUMANS PLANTING TREES IS WELL WITHIN THE UNCERTAINTY RANGE OF GLOBAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS ESTIMATIONS.
7. THEREFORE NO MEASURABLE OR STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT PHOTOSYNTHESIS EFFECT IS POSSIBLE BY HUMANS PLANTING TREES.

THE MATH IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF TREES

ON AVERAGE THERE ARE 1600 TREES PER HECTARE. ON THIS BASIS WE CAN EXPRESS THE MATH PRESENTED ABOVE IN TERMS OF HOW MANY TREES.

IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF TREES, THERE ARE MORE THAN 8,800 BILLION TREES IN THE WORLD’S FORESTS. THIS MEANS THAT FOR EACH BILLION TREES YOU PLANT, WE WILL INCREASE THE WORLD’S LAND PHOTOSYNTHESIS BY 0.011%. HOWEVER, PHOTOSYNTHESIS IS MOSTLY IN THE OCEAN WITH LAND PHOTOSYNTHESIS ACCOUNTING FOR NO MORE THAN 35% OF THE WORLD’S PHOTOSYNTHESIS. THIS MEANS THAT FOR EACH BILLION TREES YOU PLANT YOU WILL INCREASE THE WORLD’S PHOTOSYNTHESIS BY 0004% AND THUS SAVE THE PLANET. THANK YOU.

THE BIGGER ISSUE IS THE ASSUMED CLIMATE CHANGE CONTEXT

THE THEORY OF ANTHROPOGENIC GLOBAL WARMING IS SPECIFIC TO FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS AS THE CAUSE AND ITS CESSATION AS THE REMEDY. IT SAYS THAT THE CARBON IN FOSSIL FUELS IS MILLIONS OF YEARS OLD OR PERHAPS GEOLOGICAL BUT CERTAINLY NOT PART OF THE CURRENT ACCOUNT OF THE CARBON CYCLE. THEREFORE, THE INJECTION OF THIS EXTERNAL CARBON IS AN UNNATURAL PERTURBATION OF THE CARBON CYCLE THAT CAUSES ATMOSPHERIC CO2 TO RISE AND CAUSE A DANGEROUS MAN MADE WARMING.

THE CLIMATE ACTION OF THE HUMANS DEMANDED BY CLIMATE SCIENCE IS THAT WE MUST STOP BURNING FOSSIL FUELS. THE ODD INTERPRETATION OF THIS CLIMATE ACTION THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO BURN FOSSIL FUELS IF WE MAKE THE EQUIVALENT CARBON CYCLE INTERVENTION TO OFFSET OUR FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS WITH INCREASED PHOTOSYNTHESIS OF TREES IS INCONSISTENT WITH THE THEORY OF ANTHROPOGENIC GLOBAL WARMING.

SEE ALSO: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/06/19/vegandiet/

THE FATAL FLAW IN THE IDEA THAT PLANTS AND TREES AND VEGETATION CAN SEQUESTER CARBON IS THAT THEY CAN’T BECAUSE THE CARBON THEY REMOVE FROM THE ATMOSPHERE IS RETURNED TO THE ATMOSPHERE WHEN THEY DIE. THE SEQUESTRATION OF CARBON FROM THE ATMOSPHERE BY PLANTS IS ONLY FOR A WHILE.

A QUORA DISCUSSION OF TREES AND CLIMATE CHANGE: SEPTMBER 16, 2021

QUESTION:

ANSWER:

RESPONSE TO THE TRILLION TREE ARGUMENT ABOVE:

IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF TREES, THERE ARE MORE THAN 8.8 TRILLION TREES IN THE WORLD’S FORESTS. THIS MEANS THAT FOR EACH TRILLION TREES YOU PLANT, WE WILL INCREASE THE WORLD’S LAND PHOTOSYNTHESIS BY 11.36%. HOWEVER, PHOTOSYNTHESIS IS MOSTLY IN THE OCEAN WITH LAND PHOTOSYNTHESIS ACCOUNTING FOR NO MORE THAN 35% OF THE WORLD’S PHOTOSYNTHESIS. THIS MEANS THAT FOR EACH TRILLION TREES YOU PLANT YOU WILL INCREASE THE WORLD’S PHOTOSYNTHESIS BY ABOUT 4%. THE INCREASE IN PHOTOSYNTHESIS ACHIEVED IS WELL WITHIN THE UNCERTAINTY BAND OF GLOBAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS ESTIMATION. THIS MEANS THAT NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN GLOBAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS CAN BE EXPECTED FROM PLANTING A TRILLION TREES.

THE AZOLLA OPTION

IT IS PROPOSED THAT THE MUCH HIGHER CO2 SEQUESTRATION CAPACITY OF AZOLLA IMPLIES THAT WE CAN FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE SIMPLY BY PLANTING AZOLLA. I HECTARE OF AZOLLA WILL SEQUESTER 1.86 TONNES OF CO2. THERE ARE 3.2E9 HECTARES OF LAND AVAILABLE WHERE THEY CAN BE PLANTED. THE SEQUESTRATION CAPACITY OF 3.2E9 HECTARES IS 6E9 TONNES OF CO2. THE CURRENT RATE OF EMISSIONS IS 36E9 TONNES OF CO2 PER YEAR. THIS MEANS THAT THE CO2 SEQUESTRATION CAPACITY OF AZOLLA WILL BE USED UP IN 2 MONTHS.

BOTTOM LINE: THE ONLY CLIMATE ACTION AVAILABLE IS TO STOP BURNING FOSSIL FUELS. THIS IDEA THAT WE CAN USE THE CARBON SEQUESTRATION CAPACITY OF PLANTS AND TREES AS CLIMATE ACTION AND KEEP BURNING FOSSIL FUELS IS NOT GOING TO WORK.

THE FATAL FLAW:

AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF, THE FATAL FLAW IN THE IDEA THAT PLANTS AND TREES AND VEGETATION CAN SEQUESTER CARBON IS THAT THEY CAN’T BECAUSE THE CARBON THEY REMOVE FROM THE ATMOSPHERE IS RETURNED TO THE ATMOSPHERE WHEN THEY DIE.