When you look at a piece of wood or a tree, it is unlikely that you’ll say: “gee, half of that is carbon.” But carbon is a basic building block of life and trees accumulate carbon in their wood, leaves, and roots. In fact wood is about 50% carbon by weight. This carbon is derived from carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, which plants take up and store through the process of photosynthesis.
When trees and forests are cut down and replaced with parking lots, strip malls, and residential developments, David Foster, the director of the Harvard Forest at Harvard University, says two important things happen…
“First is that a great amount of carbon dioxide is released through the decomposition of the trees and the material that is left after the trees are cut down. But secondly, the trees and the forests stop taking up carbon, so they no longer serve as an ongoing sink for carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”
Foster says many of us take trees and forests for granted and we need to do a better job protecting them for future generations…
“They need to be conserved for their beauty, for their enjoyment that they provide us, for recreation, and for these important ecological services, like production of clean water, storage of carbon dioxide, and abatement of climate change.”
Protecting forests will help ensure a stable environment for future generations.
Photo, taken on August 8, 2004, courtesy of J. Brew via Flickr.