Editor:
It’s good news week. First, school is out for the summer. Second, the earth is 25 per cent to 50 per cent (depending on area) greener than it was in 1981.
The BBC Science News reported this drawing from a Scientific Journal titled, “Greening of the Earth and its Drivers.”
Comparing satellite images from 35 years ago and today we find the Earth is much greener, deserts are shrinking as trees and grasses move in, treeline is advancing north, forests and other vegetation is thickening, crops are thriving and becoming more productive.
Why is this happening?
Because of the increased amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is plant food.
Plants take carbon dioxide in, use it for building more trees and plant material (carbon fertilization) and then release oxygen into the atmosphere which we gratefully breathe.
Saying we have too much carbon dioxide is like complaining about “too much water for fish.”
So, according to the United Nations Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change, carbon dioxide levels have risen but there has been no global warming in the last 17 years. Because of all this extra carbon dioxide, despite massive logging in the amazon rainforest, etc., the extra green growth worldwide is equivalent to more than four billion giant Sequoia trees, the largest trees on earth.
It’s like earth is saying: “Thank you for that extra carbon dioxide. I feel great?”
You would think David Suzuki and Greenpeace would be saying: “Far out, our earth is actually better off today than 35 years ago but as multinational corporations, their massive fundraising depends on a scenario of green, gloom and public anxiety.
Is there really a sucker born every minute?
Alan Trenzek
Williams Lake