There is one
element that is really affecting forests in the southwestern part of the United States .
This element is drought. The forest trees in forest play a huge role in
buffering the impact made by human-induced climate change by removing massive
amounts of carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere and receiving the
carbon through the tissues of the wood. Finding out that drought affects how
the tree grows( which is 2 to 4 years to start growing normally) shows that the
forests of the Earth are capable of storing less carbon, which in turn can
speed up climate change( according to William R.L. Anderreg).
The only possible
solutions to this problem would be to find a way to reduce the amount of carbon
that is being released into the air. Another solution would be to find efficient
ways of releasing less carbon into the atmosphere.
The barriers to
these solutions are the cost of these energy efficient items( like cars, solar
panels for electricity, etc) and the people’s willingness to switch habits.
My opinion that I have
on this subject is that if we don’t find a way to reduce the amount of carbon
used, the climate and temperature of the Earth will speed up. All the carbon
that is being released and the effect of drought on these forests will only
worsen if we keep releasing the amount of carbon that we are doing now. There
should be a way to help reduce the amount of carbon being released into the air.
Sources: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150730162007.htm
A Circle of Problems
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your article, it seems that there is a big circle of problems. It starts off with the drought. This drought causes less carbon dioxide to be absorbed by the trees. In turn, this carbon dioxide causes global warming, which can worsen the droughts. Finally, on top of that whole circle of problems, we are making it worse by releasing more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. I agree that the only solution to this whole problem would be to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the environment. This will not stop the problems entirely, but it will definitely slow the process down. However, with the barriers of awareness and willingness, it appears to be impossible.
You’re right Christos, we should find a way to reduce the amount of carbon we release into the atmosphere. Our substantive emissions of carbon seem to be linked to nearly every environmental problem we are facing today, all linked to global warming as well. Maybe another solution to this environmental issue could be to plant more trees? They may not absorb as much carbon dioxide due to the drought, but at least there will be more trees to help with the efforts. Maybe sustainable irrigation would be another way to solve the drought issue, so our forest’s trees can get back to helping the planet. However, with sustainable irrigation and increased tree planting arises the barriers of lack of participation, funding, and awareness. It seems our planet will not ever get better if we, as a collective whole, do not eliminate those barriers and reduce our carbon emissions on this planet.
ReplyDeleteIt's becoming increasingly obvious that climate change is a major problem in today's world. Your article adds to the problems that it is causing. We do need to globally
ReplyDeletecome together and come up with ideas, such as the solar panels and more efficient cars, to reduce the effects that global climate change is causing. Ginny makes a good point of planting more trees to help the rate of carbon dioxide absorbtion. It's a solid idea but it may be difficult to do with the amount of deforestation going on.