Green Man Blog - Forests

Yosemite Giants Going Away?

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:59:22 -0700

Are the big trees in world-famous Yosemite disappearing? One study suggests they are.

Scientists from the US Geological Survey studied large tree density data from the 1930s and 1990s. The result? The density of big trees has fallen by 24%. In the 1930s, there were 45 big trees per hectare. By the 1990s there were only 34.

This is surprising, since these larger trees have survived hundreds of years through wet and dry periods, fires, climate changes, and insect infestations. Smaller trees can succumb to these perils, but once they grow big their ability to survive increases. So why should the big trees be dying out now?

Scientists aren’t sure what the exact reasons are, but if the big trees are thinning out in a protected park like Yosemite they surely are thinning out in other areas as well.

Big trees play an important role in forest ecosystems, moderating the forest environment with their huge canopies and providing unique habitats for a number of other plants and animals.

A significant change in big tree density could mean further drastic changes in the entire forest ecosystem.

Remember to Recycle the Christmas Tree!

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:19:33 -0700

Every year in the United States 25 – 30 million live Christmas trees are bought. Nationwide there are about 15,000 Christmas tree farms that supply the trees each year.

In fact, over 500 square miles in the U.S. are dedicated to just growing Christmas trees.

But now that Christmas is over, one more step needs to be done: recycle the tree. Almost every community now has some sort of free service where people can dump their trees.

The trees are cut up, mulched, and disposed of in an environmentally beneficial way.

So please, make sure you recycle your tree this year.

The Green Man Blog is written to spread environmental awareness and appreciation of the natural world around us. Thank you for visiting! Stay green, support the organic movement, and be sure to visit www.greenmantshirts.com or www.robjuszak.com for the best in organic cotton and bamboo t shirts!

The Boreal Forest

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:42:49 -0700

Circling the world, just below the Arctic Circle, lies the Boreal Forest. Comprising nearly 50% of the world’s remaining intact forest, the Boreal Forest stores 22% of the total carbon stored on the land surface of Earth.

That 22% equals 400 billion tons of carbon, or about 55 years worth of carbon emissions (based on 2003 levels).

What makes this forest an efficient carbon sink is the presence of frozen peatlands. Worldwide, peatlands cover about 3% of the world’s land area, but store almost 30% of the carbon. The Canadian part of the Boreal Forest has the largest area of peatlands in the world.

Scientists state that peatland plays a big role in the global environment because of its ability to purify fresh water, store carbon, and absorb pollutants.

However, should climate change begin to thaw out the permafrost regions of the world where the Boreal Forest exists, the organic matter trapped in the peatlands will decompose and release billions of tons of the stored carbon back into the atmosphere

A Dark and Wonderful Forest

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:13:00 -0700

We love forests. We couldn't run the Green Man Blog unless that were true. Given a choice, we'd chuck in the day-to-day routine and spend our time camping and treking through every forest we could find.

Here's one we'd hit for sure.

The Schwarzwald (Black Forest) in Germany is a vast expanse of wooded mountains and green valleys that stretches south from the town of Baden Baden to the Switzerland border, and west to France, covering an area of 4,600 square miles.

It is said to be haunted by werewolves, sorcerers, witches, and the devil himself.

In 1878, Mark Twain took the first of his many world tours and visited the Black Forest. Walking through the woods, he described it in his book, A Tramp Abroad:

A rich cathedral gloom pervades the pillared aisles; so the stray flecks of sunlight that strike a trunk here and a bough yonder are strongly accented, and when they strike the moss they fairly seem to burn.

But the weirdest effect, and the most enchanting is that produced by the diffused light of the low afternoon sun; no single ray is able to pierce its way in, then, but the diffused light takes color from moss and foliage, and pervades the place like a faint, green-tinted mist, the theatrical fire of fairyland.

The suggestion of mystery and the supernatural which haunts the forest at all times is intensified by this unearthly glow.

Tourists from all over the world still come to visit, taken in by its beauty, charm, and history.

Little gems appear everywhere, like tiny Mummelsee lake, an almost perfectly round shaped mountain lake from the Ice Age. The picturesque Mummelsee Hotel sits hard by the lake and legend says the 55-foot deep lake is inhabited by a mermaid named Nixe.

In the western Black Forest, a former volcanic mountain has been turned into a giant vineyard. This region, called Kaiserstuhl, is the third biggest wine growing area in Germany.

The biggest lake in the Black Forest is Lake Schluchsee. In summer weather the inhabitants sail and swim, and in the winter they cross country ski and ice skate.

Someday we’ll get there and try a little of that sailing and swimming ourselves.

Tears Falling Like Rain (Forests)

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:20:00 -0700

In the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, verdant green Amazon Rainforest is broken up by broad tracks of pale green and tan deforested land. The small red dots are fires. In 2005, the government of Brazil said that 48 percent of Amazon deforestation that took place in 2003 and 2004 occurred in Mato Grosso. This photo was taken on June 28, 2006. Credit: Jeff Schmaltz

Rainforests, once covering 14% of the world’s surface, now cover only 6%.

If rainforests continue to be destroyed at the present pace, we will lose them all within 100 years. If the pace of destruction accelerates due to expanding population growth, we'll lose them in 50 years.

Did you know?

-that the Amazon rainforest covers over a billion acres?

-that more than 20% of the world’s oxygen is produced by the Amazon rainforest?

-that one-fifth of the world’s fresh water is in the Amazon basin?

-that of the world’s estimated 10 million species of plants, insects, and animals, more than half live in tropical rain forests?

Trees in the clouds

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:34:00 -0700

Rainforests found at high elevations are often referred to as cloud forests.

At around 2,000 to 3,500 meters high, cloud forests are permanently shrouded in mist and fog. The trees are smaller than a regular rainforest, more crooked and stunted.

Areas in green show the last remaining cloud forests on Earth.

What an experience it must be to hike through this primeval landscape, ghostlike in its quiet, mysterious ways.

The Green Man Blog is written to spread environmental awareness and appreciation of the natural world around us. Thank you for visiting! Stay green, support the organic movement, and be sure to visit www.greenmantshirts.com for the best in organic cotton and bamboo t shirts!

Where are the Rain Forests?

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:52:00 -0700

Here. For now.

According to National Geographic, the world’s rain forests will vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.

The Green Man Blog is written to spread environmental awareness and appreciation of the natural world around us. Thank you for visiting! Stay green, support the organic movement, and be sure to visit www.greenmantshirts.com or www.robjuszak.com for the best in organic cotton and bamboo t shirts!

Only 250 million acres to go

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:21:00 -0700

The green states show a combined area of about 250 million acres. That is how much forest the U.S. has lost over the last few hundred years

According to the Society of American Foresters, the United States ranks fourth on the list of most forest-rich countries with 8 percent of the world’s primary forests.

Overall, we have 750 million acres of forest left in the United States. In the early 1600s we had over 1.04 billion acres. That’s a decrease of nearly 28%.

But the good news is that since 1987 we have actually increased the total amount of forest by 12 million acres. That’s less than 2%, but it’s a start.

Another 250 million acres or so, and we’re back to square one.

The Green Man Blog is written to spread environmental awareness and appreciation of the natural world around us. Thank you for visiting! Stay green, support the organic movement, and be sure to visit www.greenmantshirts.com for the best in organic cotton and bamboo t shirts!

Rain Forests in the United States

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:22:00 -0700

We hear so much about rain forests these days, usually somewhere in Brazil or elsewhere. But the United States has rain forests, too.

The Olympic Rain Forest is the last remaining rain forest in the lower 48. It gets between 12-14 feet (144 to 168 inches!) of rain each year.

This rain forest features Sitka spruce, cedar, maple, alder, black cottonwood, and western hemlock trees 100s of years old that can reach 250 feet in height and 30 to 60 feet in circumference.

It also has one of the largest wild populations of Roosevelt elk in the U.S. The biggest of North American elk, Roosevelt elk males average 875 lbs.

An estimated 10 million elk lived in North America before the 1500s, but their population dwindled to less than 100,000 by 1907.

The Olympic Rain Forest is part of Olympic National Park, located in Washington State.

The Green Man Blog is written to spread environmental awareness and appreciation of the natural world around us. Thank you for visiting! Stay green, support the organic movement, and be sure to visit www.greenmantshirts.com for the best in organic cotton and bamboo t shirts!

Forest loss in the United States

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:25:00 -0700

Ever wonder about the loss of old-growth forest in the U.S? This map shows the loss over the last few hundred years.

Pretty interesting, really. At its height, the rate of deforestation in the United States was 2% per year.

That 2% deforestation rate is equal to what's going on now in Asia and Latin America.

The Green Man Blog is written to spread environmental awareness and appreciation of the natural world around us. Thank you for visiting! Stay green, support the organic movement, and be sure to visit www.greenmantshirts.com for the best in organic cotton and bamboo t shirts!