Trees occupy one third of the total land area of the United States. We have gotten used to them providing recreation spaces and wildlife habitats. Climate scientists believe trees play a valuable role by storing carbon. Today we consider how a warmer climate affects trees, and whether global warming should worry us in this regard.
Warming Climate Affects Trees by Weakening Timber
Abnormal global warming began around the time of the first industrial revolution. German scientists have been monitoring trees since 1870. They report wood density reduced an average 10% because the trees have been growing faster. What does this mean?
This means that as climate affects trees by causing warmer summers they can store less carbon. They will also be less able to withstand insect attacks and burn easier in forest wildfires. Moreover, the timber will become less valuable and there will be fewer commercial forests to replace harvested timber. We wondered what would happen if the world ran out of trees. We have been investigating and share what we found..
What Would Happen if Trees Died Out and Became Extinct
Agricultural scientists believe forests have shrunk one third since the first industrial revolution. We became concerned about how sensitive they are, and turned to environmental data and analysis researcher Isabel Rosa for advice. What would happen if there were no more trees, we asked.
Although the possibility is implausible right now, it’s a sobering thought of what would happen if Earth’s climate flipped. “If we get rid of all the trees,” Isabel Rosa says. “We will live on a planet that might not actually be able to sustain us anymore.” There would be massive extinctions that would ripple through biodiversity. Dying trees would release vast amounts of carbon trapping more heat on the planet.
The Earth would transform into a “vastly warmer place” says Paolo D’Odorico, environmental science prof at University of California, Berkeley. Poverty and death would descend on many of the 1.6 billion people who currently rely directly on forests for their livelihoods. The rest of us could follow them into oblivion, because climate affects trees and may be deadly for us too.
Related
Last Antarctic Forests Are a Somber Warning
Look What We Are Doing to Trees, Our Friends
Preview Image: Haiti on Dominican Border
