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Published online 23 April 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.771
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Beetle tree kill releases more carbon than fires
Canada’s beetle infestation is turning some forests into carbon sources.
An infestation of beetles could convert large swathes of Canadian forests to carbon sources rather than sinks, a new study suggests.
Fuelled by warmer winter weather, mountain pine beetles have swept through the conifers of British Columbia, killing trees in an estimated 74,000 to 94,000 square kilometres of forest.
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What would the impact be if all this wood was converted to ethanol fuel for use in producing Hydrogen Fuel Cells or cleaners/thinners? It seems to me that this might prove to be a better use since the remaining wood/cellulose waste could be then converted to panel boards for other industries.
A very key lesson here -- "Mountain pine beetles can only reproduce in the largest trees, which were abundant thanks to a growth spurt after wildfires raged across western North America 80 to 140 years ago." It looks like nature is trying to repeat another natural cycle, only now humans are there to cast a value judgement on the cycle! G Filice
I find some valorative and non-descriptive approach to the facts in this text. I also think it lacks a global ecological point of view and focuses excessively on a single factor.