Walking the plank: climate change is making trees larger, but at a sinister hidden cost!
Jun 18, 2023, 13:07 IST
Bigger isn't always better, especially when it comes to wood. Perhaps the statement rang true at one time, unadulterated by the sorrowful embrace of climate change. But things have swiftly gone downhill since.
But to understand all this, we need to learn some basic concepts. What is wood, exactly, and why does it matter?
As mighty and solemn trees might seem, even they need support. The bigger they get, the more support they need to avoid falling over. That's where the good ol' reliable "wood" comes in.
As trees grow, the carbon they sequester from the air gets converted and deposited around the stem of the plant. This hardened mass is what we observe as wood and helps the plant remain quite stable through the daily vagaries of rain and wind.
But just because you're bigger doesn't necessarily mean you're also stronger! This is quite obvious when you compare bodybuilders with powerlifters. However, this also holds for trees.
Scientists have discovered that in temperate regions of North America and Europe, trees have begun to grow 77% faster than in the previous century. While this might appear excellent at first, since it indicates more carbon being scrubbed from the air, things aren't always what they seem.
Despite being thicker due to their unusually exceptional growth, researchers found that the trees were actually much less dense than before, by as much as 8-12%.
This depreciation meant that not only were the trees absorbing less carbon dioxide than before (only about half as usual), but they were also dying much earlier. Adding wood to the forest fire, a reduced density meant the trees were no longer strong enough to support themselves against natural stresses such as gravity and wind.
In fact, studies have even confirmed that fast-growing trees are often associated with shorter life expectancies. This is because as climate change increases the growing season of various species, the type of wood deposited on the plant during this time also increased, which was usually a weaker variant.
Overall, this means while trees will get larger over time, the relative carbon uptake from forests will droop.
When a tree falls in the forest, climate change is resoundingly always the first one to hear the thud.
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But to understand all this, we need to learn some basic concepts. What is wood, exactly, and why does it matter?
As mighty and solemn trees might seem, even they need support. The bigger they get, the more support they need to avoid falling over. That's where the good ol' reliable "wood" comes in.
As trees grow, the carbon they sequester from the air gets converted and deposited around the stem of the plant. This hardened mass is what we observe as wood and helps the plant remain quite stable through the daily vagaries of rain and wind.
But just because you're bigger doesn't necessarily mean you're also stronger! This is quite obvious when you compare bodybuilders with powerlifters. However, this also holds for trees.
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Despite being thicker due to their unusually exceptional growth, researchers found that the trees were actually much less dense than before, by as much as 8-12%.
This depreciation meant that not only were the trees absorbing less carbon dioxide than before (only about half as usual), but they were also dying much earlier. Adding wood to the forest fire, a reduced density meant the trees were no longer strong enough to support themselves against natural stresses such as gravity and wind.
In fact, studies have even confirmed that fast-growing trees are often associated with shorter life expectancies. This is because as climate change increases the growing season of various species, the type of wood deposited on the plant during this time also increased, which was usually a weaker variant.
Overall, this means while trees will get larger over time, the relative carbon uptake from forests will droop.
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But make no mistake, forests are, and continue to be, one of our biggest deterrents against global warming. As climate change wears our first line of defence down, we must look at newer, more robust methods to topple the climate behemoth. When a tree falls in the forest, climate change is resoundingly always the first one to hear the thud.