A Republican’s Solution to Global Warming

             Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, declared on May 25^th during a Congressional that cutting down on the world’s rain forests would eliminate green house gases responsible for Global Warming. Mr. Rohrabacher questioned Todd Stern, the Obama administration’s climate change representative, whether the America should focus on reducing the carbon dioxide emitted by decaying plant matter, which accounts for 80% of carbon dioxide emissions.

             The globe is going through rapid climate change as carbon dioxide emission increases. Carbon dioxide encircles the ozone layer, preventing sunlight that had entered the earth’s atmosphere and reflected off the earth’s surface from leaving the atmosphere. The decay of plant matter in the natural world accounts for a major part of carbon dioxide emissions. However, plants absorb a third of the carbon dioxide released by the human respiratory system and human activity.

             Mr. Rohrabacher asked Mr. Stern, “Is there some thought being given to subsidizing the clearing of rain forests in order for some countries to eliminate that production of greenhouse gases? Or would people be supportive of cutting down older trees in order to plant younger trees as a means to prevent this disaster from happening?”

His questions stunned forestry experts. Oliver Phillips, a professor of geography at the University of Leeds in Britain and an expert on terrestrial carbon storage, said, “He’s seriously confused. He’s just got half of the equation. Natural things decay, of course, but they also grow.” Plants absorb more carbon dioxide than they emit. Dr. Phillips added that Mr. Rohrabacher’s idea that cutting down trees in the rain forest would solve the problem of climate change is “crazy.”

Mr. Rohrabacher was also mistaken in the sense that he thinks carbon dioxide is emitted from decayed biomass from above the ground. Soil is the actual source of 75% of the carbon dioxide emitted from the natural world.

             SOURCE

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/republicans-climate-solution-clearcut-the-rain-forest/?scp=5&sq=global%20warming&st=cse