
Global number of trees is order of magnitude higher than the previous estimate - shawndumas
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v525/n7568/full/nature14967.html
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asadotzler
Does this mean that any tree planting efforts would need to be dramatically
increased to have the desired impact on CO2 levels?

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Kip9000
Trees take more carbon out in the growth phase. So we need fast growing trees,
then cut them down and bury them and repeat until profit.

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tracker1
Does it have to be buried? can it be used?

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tomjakubowski
Burning the older trees defeats the point of planting them in the first place
(to remove carbon from the atmosphere). You might transplant them somewhere
for aesthetic purposes, but then they're taking up space that could be used to
grow young, carbon-hungry trees. I guess that leaves turning them into lumber.

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tracker1
I said used, not burn... paper, construction, and many other uses for wood
beyond burning. Since lumber, and even paper would eventually mean burying
most likely, that would be a decent usage... though wooden structures have
their practical limits, I don't think we're there yet.

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afarrell
Paper is going to end up being burned or in landfills. If it ends up in
landfills it could* become methane which is a far worse greenhouse gas than
CO2.

* Someone who knows more about decomposition might tell me I'm wrong about the processes that create methane.

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bonobo3000
This brought up an interesting question - how much paper is recycled vs
trashed?

Atleast in the US, 67% of paper was recycled in 2013. So 2/3rd isn't burned or
compacted. Thats pretty impressive.

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sukaka
I should start a lumber company so the actual # trees become the estimated #
trees. Studies citing the previous estimate will also be correct.

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jsprogrammer
What would you do with all that lumber?

