Posted on 10/06/2023 2:58:04 PM PDT by algore
At the forefront of environmental discussions at Michigan State University, Tom Sharkey, a University Distinguished Professor at the Plant Resilience Institute, posed a provocative question:
"Should we cut down all the oak trees?"
While he wasn't advocating for a literal deforestation of oaks, this theoretical question emerges from his team's recent discoveries about the role of trees, especially oaks and poplars, in air pollution dynamics.
Sharkey's research delves into the intricacies of isoprene -- a compound released by certain plants, particularly oaks and poplars.
This research reveals a paradox. On one hand, with global temperatures rising, these trees emit more isoprene which, when interacting with pollutants like nitrogen oxide, exacerbates poor air quality by contributing to particulate matter and low-atmosphere ozone.
On the other hand, isoprene bolsters the plants' resistance against environmental stressors such as insect attacks and high temperatures.
This double-edged sword leads Sharkey to ask, "Do we want plants to make more isoprene so they're more resilient, or do we want them making less so it's not making air pollution worse? What's the right balance?"
Despite isoprene being the second-largest emitted hydrocarbon on Earth -- trailing only behind methane emissions from human activities -- its significant impact on the environment remains relatively unknown to the general public. Sharkey, who has studied isoprene since his doctoral days at Michigan State in the 1970s, sheds light on its importance and the challenges it presents. Interestingly, this isn't the first time trees have been implicated in air pollution discussions. In the 1980s, then-president Ronald Reagan controversially claimed that trees produced more air pollution than cars. This statement, although exaggerated, contained a nugget of truth regarding the role of isoprene.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
There is trouble with the trees...
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw
All cut down by a modern day warrior with mean, mean pride.
We just lost almost ever ash tree in the Midwest and now they think oak trees should die too
Yeah
Some racist Founding Father or 2 had at least one in their front yard...
I remember when all the Elm trees in the Midwest died, I was very sad
Must have been sad. I was a little kid in the 70s, and I remember my parents talking about it a lot, and my dad constantly had his chainsaw out in the forest.
Without American white oak there would be no whiskey. Or very little of it.
American white oak has the perfect pore size for the staves of whiskey aging barrels. Fortunately for the rest of the world, the US has a law that forbids licensed distillers re-using whiskey aging barrels, and other countries are happy to buy our hand-me-downs. Scotch white oak is unsuitable for aging barrels so their whisky industry in particular is completely dependent on the American whiskey industry for its aging barrels. Same with the sherry and port industry in Spain & Portugal. All aged in American whiskey barrels.
So cutting down all the oaks would destroy the American whiskey industry, and cripple much of the rest of the world’s.
The Blue Ridge Mountains in the Appalachians got the name “Blue Ridge” because of the blue hue associated with them, due to isoprenes (as well as other organics) emitted by the trees in their forests. Those mountains have been around for hundreds of thousands of years, along with associated wildlife of all sorts - they’ve survived just fine despite the continual presence of enough isoprenes to change the look of the local atmosphere.
The most reasonable solution would be to air drop a MOAB on Michigan State University.
bttt bttt
bttt bttt
bttt bttt
bttt bttt
It always starts with a question with these lefties…
“...professing to be wise, they became fools.”
It’s not provocative. It’s stupid.
Fanatical and insane.
More lying from “scientists”.
Squirrels have more sense.
Environmentalism is a weird religious cult. These people are demonic and evil.
I'll never forget how impressed my Dad was that President Jefferson had a giant Tulip Poplar next to his mansion at Monticello. Back in the late sixties it was a mighty tree too. I had never seen my Dad so animated.
When he was in the CCC program before WWII, he was sent to Northern California to help the lumberjacks cut giant Redwoods but his favorite was always the Tulip Poplar. My dad had already passed away a few years before we moved into the house we are still in with three giant Tulip Poplars in the yard.
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