Super Eco

Photo credit: filmfanatic.org

Trees gone bad. Remember the taunting, apple-throwing trees in The Wizard of Oz? Well, these are worse. Ten times worse. These trees spew greenhouse gases. And they're coming to your backyard.

We've been relying on forest ecosystems to be a carbon sink, a big absorbing sponge for all the greenhouse gases we create with our cars and airplanes and factories and belching cows. And up to now, our forests have been a green mitigating presence, despite being ever more vulnerable to disease and damage, in the ever-increasing climate change thing we have going on. Up to now.

Scientists producing a new UN report project, though, that with just a 2C increase in global temperature—which seems definitely in the cards at this point—trees will reverse their helpful stance and instead have a net negative effect, having become so damaged and diseased overall from the increase in temperatures that they start emitting tons of CO2. Deforestation already accounts for about 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions. If forests continue to die because of the temperature increase, they'll start releasing all that CO2 they've been storing all this time. Which will dramatically increase the rate of global warming.

Not to harsh on your treehugging thing or anything.

Of course, climate change will affect different areas differently, and in some parts of the world, a couple of degrees of warmth will mean extra tree growth. Northern climates especially will benefit from this.

[Okay, this is where you break in with "But Dorothy, it was all a dream!"]

Good news: it's not too late. If we drastically reduce greenhouse emissions, we could save our forests from irreparable harm. I'm in. How about you? ("And you were there, and you, and .. you!")