SpringHollow
Elite Member
Wayne County Hose said:Exactly. I even read a study that found that the rainforest gave off more carbon emissions than it absorbed. When the wood decays, the organisms doing the decaying emit carbon. The amount of carbon emitted from the decaying process was more than what the tree put out in it's life.
For it to be carbon negative, ultimately some of the carbon has to remain in the ground (formation of compost eventually becoming oil, formation of carbonates, etc.). For it to be carbon positive as quoted, that would mean that it is taking more carbon out of the ground than what is going into the ground. Anything that came from the air and eventually went back into the air would be neutral. I have always read that trees are basically carbon neutral which nievely makes sense - when growing they are absorbing carbon but when they decay or burn, they are releasing carbon. Anything that eats the trees (animals down to microbes) does not affect anything because ultimately they decay, etc. as well. So are they saying that trees take so much carbonates out of the ground that they are not carbon neutral?
As far as global warming goes, that is much more complicated because not all carbon is equal. Methane for example affects the upper atmosphere differently than CO2