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Forest thinning (to produce wood pellets) has a profound surface warming effect – Boosted by that?


from NoTricksZone

Via P Gosselin on March 15, 2022

Four recent studies tell us that thinning forests to produce wood pellets and clearing forests for wind parks are really dumb ideas.

Reforestation and reforestation (R&A) is one of the most prominent ideas for carbon sequestration and is therefore seen by alarmists as a climate solution. But others suspect forests have multiple roles.

Wood pellets mean double barrel warming

Another proposed solution to protect the climate is to burn wood pellets instead of oil and natural gas to heat buildings. Wood pellets are considered renewable and are therefore expected to stave off climate change. However, now recent studies show that burning wood pellets from trees harvested during forest thinning operations can accelerate warming.

CODE HEAD: Die kalte Sonne here.

Cloud-albedo effect due to land-atmosphere interaction

In their study, “Cloud cooling effect of afforestation and reforestation at medium temperature“The team of authors led by Sara Cerasoli thoroughly analyzed R&A at medium levels. Using both satellite data and atmospheric boundary layer models, they show that by including cloud-albedo effects due to land-atmospheric interactions, mean-temperature R&A cooling becomes common variable.

This means that the previous scientists did not take into account the clouds that form due to forests. These high albedo clouds play an important role in having a cooling effect. Clouds tend to form over intact forests rather than non-forested areas.

Forests, along with the clouds they help create, work to cool surface temperatures. Therefore, efforts to keep forests intact at moderate temperatures will help cool the earth’s surface.

In contrast, efforts that lead to thinning or even deforestation – the production of wood pellets, for example – will reduce the cooling effect, or even induce warming. The newspaper wrote:

While the increase in water vapor in the atmosphere due to forests can lead to greater absorption of radiation (16), the impact is small compared to the radiative effect causing albedo change, thus mechanically evaporative cooling. is a non-radiative effect. “

Forests mean more cooling clouds

A similar result was obtained in another paper published last year in the journal Nature Communications: “Revealing widespread potential of forests to increase low-level cloud cover“Do Duveiller et al.

Using global satellite data, they found that “for 67% of the area sampled worldwide, reforestation would increase low-level cloud cover, which would have planetary cooling”.

Changes in cloud fractional cover (CFrC) after potential reforestation obtained from satellite data, expressed as conditions relative to average cloudiness per grid cell. Source. Here is picture 1.

The authors also found that forest type played an important role, “especially in Europe, where coniferous forests produce more clouds than broadleaf forests”.

10% of the forest canopy opens leading to a warming of 0.46°C!

Just is recent research in the journal Ecological Evidence and Solutions by Jeannette S. Blumröder et al (2021) found a profound effect on the surface temperature of forests. The authors found:

Harvesting 100 trees/ha increases the maximum temperature of 0.21–0.34 K at ground level and 0.09–0.17 K at 1.3 m above ground. The opening of the forest canopy increased by 10% significantly increased BILLIONmaximum, measured 1.3 m above ground is 0.46 K (including pine and oak) and 0.35 K (pine price only). ”

Thinner forests gradually lose their cooling capacity. Source: Jeannette S. Blumröder et al., Figure 2.

Research shows that poor forestry practices in Northern Germany lead to a reduced ability to cool temperatures as the forest has increased logging activities. “Maximum temperatures are higher in forests with relatively low reserves. Therefore, high reserves and dense canopy will provide insurance against heat and drought events. ”

“From all variables, the researchers identified canopy openness and the number of trees harvested, both directly controlled by forest management, as key factors in reducing maximum temperatures. multi in the forest. They found that maximum temperatures were higher in forests with more felled trees and wider canopy.”

Big difference between forest temperature and free air

However, another paper published last year, ForestTemp – Microclimate temperature under European forest canopy by Haesen et al., found that “the canopy functions as an insulator” and that “the air temperature under the tree canopy is fundamentally different from the free air temperature, averaging 2.1° C (standard deviation ±1.6°C) is lower in summer and 2.0°C (±0.7°C) higher in winter across Europe. ”

Undoubtedly, intact forests play an important role in temperature. In spring and summer, open forests will heat up more markedly than forests with full canopy.

Forest thinning and clearing activities, such as harvesting trees to produce wood pellets or building wind parks, not only lead to higher surface temperatures, but also lead to rapid injection of CO2 into the atmosphere when wood pellets are burned.

In the end, that means the wood pellets are backfired. They lead to forest degradation, and even faster CO2 emissions and pollution from burning them. Training can’t go bad.



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