Posted on 09/03/2015 10:33:23 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
The global extent and distribution of forest trees is central to our understanding of the terrestrial biosphere. We provide the first spatially continuous map of forest tree density at a global scale. This map reveals that the global number of trees is approximately 3.04 trillion, an order of magnitude higher than the previous estimate. Of these trees, approximately 1.39 trillion exist in tropical and subtropical forests, with 0.74 trillion in boreal regions and 0.61 trillion in temperate regions. Biome-level trends in tree density demonstrate the importance of climate and topography in controlling local tree densities at finer scales, as well as the overwhelming effect of humans across most of the world. Based on our projected tree densities, we estimate that over 15 billion trees are cut down each year, and the global number of trees has fallen by approximately 46% since the start of human civilization.
(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...
Evidently, we are pretty good about counting the number of trees cut down. Are we also capable of determining the number of new trees planted or of those which grew naturally from fallen seeds, nuts or fruit?
A statistic I have heard quoted (but have not verified) is that 80 years ago my state was 25% forested and today is 75% tree covered.
Then, I took WBill Jr to do the same thing this summer.
Exactly the same problem. Landmarks that I'd used as a kid .... just weren't there anymore. And this is in the Northeast, hardly a dense tropical rainforest. I'd imagine that in warm climates, the process moves much faster.
Mother Nature will always get back what's taken from her.
I am in NH. The statistic I have read was that NH was 20% forested and 80% cleared around 1880. A hundred years later it had flipped to 80% forested and 20% cleared. All around this area you will find stone walls that separated farmers fields now running through forests that have trees 2-3’ in diameter. This second, third, forth(who knows) growth timber all grew back after the smart farmers moved to Iowa, Indiana and Ohio the Kings Pine stopped being cut for His Majesties Navy.
Imagine the yearly growth in the tropics. That is why every once in awhile someone down in the Yucatan finds some old Mayan Temple that is completely covered with jungle.
If the global temperaure were to increase a degree or two, we’d have billions more trees growing. And more crops to feed the people. The world would be a tropical paradise. We could all lay around eating raisins and grapes and sipping on RC Cola.
Oh crap!
If that's what the enviroweenies want then that's another reason to count me out.
None of that mess would work for me, even if you added Moon Pies.
Many moons ago (a little indian lingo there) I was involved in Central American archaeology (before I realized that one cannot pay the mortgage doing that). Those beautiful pictures of excavated pyramids and other buildings only remain beautiful due to the daily war on the encroaching rain forest. Most of the precolombian pyramids and other structures have been swallowed by nature. Any existing excavations will be swallowed up by the forest if not for the daily cutting back of the forest.
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