Sunday, March 11, 2012

Seeing Forests for the Trees (and the Carbon)

“Trees cool and moisten our airand fill it with oxygen. They calm the winds and shade the land from sunlight.They shelter countless species, anchor the soil, and slow the movement of water. They provide food, fuel, medicines, and building materials for humanactivity.

They also help balance Earth’scarbon budget.

Scientists estimate that humansrelease about nine billion tons of carbon (mostly carbon dioxide) each year byburning fossil fuels and by changing the landscape. About four billion tons endup in the atmosphere and two billion tons dissolve in the ocean. The last threebillion go into ecosystems on land, but exactly where these sinks are locatedremains an open question.

Forests are considered one of theworld’s largest banks for all of the carbon emitted into the atmosphere throughnatural processes and human activities. They cover about 30 percent of Earth’sland surface, while accounting for 50 percent of plant productivity. As much as45 percent of the carbon stored on land is tied up in forests.”

From: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/ForestCarbon/

To see a large version of this map, please visit this NASA websitepage: http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/76000/76697/whrc_carbon_us_lrg.jpg
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