[Greenbuilding] Totally turned off by high pricesforgreen products

[Chris Green]

Mary Bull - Greenwood Earth Alliance wrote:
> Hey Green Goat and Greenbuilders!
> <snip>  a very convincing argument that using steel
> instead of wood was far better for global warming--the carbon sequestering properties of living trees far outshines the carbon-release that goes into steel production. Does anyone care to comment?
>   
There is now a suggestion that the carbon sequestering benefit of 
planting trees depends on where the trees are planted.
In the tropics, trees do sequester carbon and keep the ground and air 
around them cool by moisture transpiration. The moisture in the 
air--clouds--also reflects a portion of the solar heat back into space.
 In the higher northern and southern latitudes, and at some higher 
altitudes, the trees sequester carbon but keep the earth below their 
canopy layer warmer than it would otherwise: this means the soil 
organisms have a longer period to produce carbon dioxide, and therefore 
add to the carbon load in the atmosphere.
In the middle latitudes, which means all of continental USA and Europe, 
the net effect is zero.

Source of this argument: A BC news article entitled "Care needed with 
carbon offsets" by Jonathon Amos, a SF based reporter.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6184577.stm

However, this is not a license to stop planting trees. They do help 
retain moisture in the soil, preventing landslides, providing a living 
space for living things, cleaner streams for aquatic creatures to live 
in, and building the nutrients in the soil.
Also, slightly warmer soil temps in the mid and higher latitudes means 
less energy is needed to heat homes during the winter.
Besides, they are nice to look at be around.

What would help a bit is to re-establish the forests that were present 
in north and north-west Africa before the Romans and others after them 
cut the forests down.
As a bonus, cooling that area down would in turn help reduce the power 
of the hurricanes that are born off the west coast of Africa.

As an aside, goats, by the way, along with sheep, are a large reason of 
much deforestation world wide. These animals tend to eat the shoots of 
new trees when they spring up. Goats will also eat the bark off of 
trees, killing them.  As time passes, the forests shrink and disappear, 
as they have in the middle east.
Although goats are enjoyable and funky companions (most of the time) 
they might not be an ideal mascot for sustainable activities.
As for sheep, ...bah!

Cheers,

Chris Green.