Posted on 09/21/2021 11:42:53 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
Decaying wood releases around 10.9 gigatons of carbon worldwide every year, according to a new study by an international team of scientists.
This is roughly equivalent to 115 percent of fossil fuel emissions.
Co-author of the study Professor David Lindenmayer from The Australian National University (ANU) says it’s the first time researchers have been able to quantify the contribution of deadwood to the global carbon cycle.
“Until now, little has been known about the role of dead trees,” Professor Lindenmayer said.
“We know living trees play a vital role in absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But up until now, we didn’t know what happens when those trees decompose. It turns out, it has a massive impact.”
Professor Lindenmayer said the decomposition is driven by natural processes including temperature and insects.
“The decomposition of wood and the recycling of those nutrients is a critically important process in forests,” he said.
The research showed decomposition can’t happen without wood-boring insects such as Longicorn Beetles.
“We knew insects such as termites and wood-boring Longicorn beetles can accelerate deadwood decomposition,” study co-author Dr. Marisa Stone from Griffith University said.
“But until now, we didn’t know how much they contribute to deadwood carbon release globally.
“Insects accounted for 29% of deadwood carbon release each year. However, their role was disproportionately greater within the tropics and had little effect in regions of low temperatures.”
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at scitechdaily.com ...
Still, make methane from stellar carbon and hydrogen. 'sorb into/onto rock, bury it deep enough or run molten lava over it and it starts breaking down, lose a hydrogen meet another methane that's lost a hydrogen, and you get ethane. Keep baking off hydrogens you get ethylene, volatile liquids, oils, paraffins and all matter of abiotic "organics" hydrocarbons, and eventually even coal...
A reminder: If fallen (dead) trees are attacked by termites or other wood destroying organisms, the result will be methane in addition to CO2. For what it’s worth, methane is a far more efficient greenhouse gas than CO2. In terms of volume, termites worldwide produce far more methane than cows. So, if Mother earth is indeed farting (and don’t forget volcanic eruptions) that smell of methane is most likely from insects, not mammals.
Deadwood Releasing 10.9 Gigatons of Carbon Every Year.
Wow D.C. is worse than we thought.
Beetle farts.
I just burn all my deadwood (in my woodstove)....problem solved.
ALL dead plant material releases CO2 in dying. Trees are just bigger than other plants and so they store more carbon and in dying release more CO2.
More humans require more plants, for food and every other use, so the live plant to dying plant cycle (and the release of CO2) is likely somewhat larger for X period of time (in a shorter period of time), than in the past when the human population was smaller and plants were not being grown and consumed/used by as many humans.
And what should a “warmer” planet mean? A greener planet (plants love CO2), which a growing human population needs.
How much CO2 have the fires in CA, OR, WA and BC released in the last three months?
I suppose that could be considered man-caused though from incompetent and corrupt forest management.
OHHH, “dead wood” not “Deadwood”.
For a second there, I thought South Dakota had some ‘splaining to do.
Politicians are deadwood.
SO the solution has to be to cut down all of the trees, and bury the dead ones, then kill all of the livestock, and then shut off the water, then UTOPIA.....
We need to get rid of trees and the enabling insects pronto. Maybe The Bozo will donate billions or the cause
The only sensible thing to do when the environment and climate is this much in danger is not to use half measures, but rather just blast off the entire atmosphere so Earth becomes more environmentally safe like Mars.
Yep - it’s Hollywood
Deadwood https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4943998/fullcredits
When I have beer and kimchi, look out deadwood.
Or, beer and chili from Juarez...
5.56mm
I’m guessing that a lot of the carbon just goes back into the ground too. Both in the form of dead wood, dead insects, bird poop that ate the insect, etc.
BTW, I thought “Deadwood” was the name for some coal-fired electrical plant at first!
Addendum...
The First lady won’t let me in bed if I’ve had either.
She hates when I pull the covers over her head...
5.56mm
I wonder what the co2 contribution is from insects eating wooden homes, fences and other finished wood products.
Let’s just add in the termites for that deadwood.
From 1982: http://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/31/us/termite-gas-exceeds-smokestack-pollution.html
“Now researchers report that termites, digesting vegetable matter on a global basis, produce more than twice as much carbon dioxide as all the world’s smokestacks.
Termite gas production has become particularly high, the researchers say, because widespread clearing of land has offered them abundant food in the debris of felled forests. By digesting this debris, they are adding not only carbon dioxide but also methane to the atmosphere. Other researchers have found that methane in the atmosphere is increasing 2 percent a year.”
So Cali cleans up it’s woods and we’re good to go? Cool!
What about the deadwood at government offices?
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