[LINK] Exponential growth [was Microsoft is dead ... were it so!]

[Antony Barry]

On 13/04/2007, at 10:42 AM, Alan L Tyree wrote:

> It's a good point. CO2 gobblers are easy - the much maligned  
> Australian
> initiative on savine/replanting Asian forests is not a bad start.
>

There are three problems. Firstly forests don't just suck up CO2  
forever just for the first century or so. After that that reach a  
climax stage.

Secondly, as we found in Canberra, they burn and in an afternoon  
decades of stored CO2 goes back into the atmosphere. With global  
warming we will get more fires and less rain in many area and could  
lose tropical forests such as the Amazon as we lost the forests which  
were once in the Sahara <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/ 
2006/07/060720-sahara.html>.

Thirdly We need increasing amounts of land to grow food and that will  
colide with planting forests unless we plant fruit trees.

The whole idea of fixing global warming by planting trees looks like  
a scam to me. The carbon which we have dug out of the ground still  
stays in the biosphere.

>
> Your are right to say that the technology might fail. How do you rate
> the chances of those who are putting their faith in human nature?

My faith in human nature to find ways round fundamental physical laws  
is slight. My hope is that enough people will have the good sense to  
try and find long term benefit for all rather than the few or  
themselves alone before we hit the wall.

Tony

phone : 02 6241 7659 | mailto:me at Tony-Barry.emu.id.au
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