[Terrapreta] Canadian carbon

[MFH]

An extract from a NZ timber industry newsletter. Presumably the beetle was
historically in balance, but conditions have changed and he's away on a
population explosion.

 

 

"It's been well documented - the forestry industry in British Columbia has
been hammered over the last 12 months from all sides. Mill closures, job
layoffs (only this week the West Coast's largest forestry company, Western
Forest Products, announced that it's shutting down most of it's logging
operations next week with 800 loggers affected by the move (
<http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=1d0dc9b6-3c2
2-41d5-9e48-911c8fb29257>  More >> ) and of course the mountain pine beetle
has knocked the industry for a six. Selling lumber from infested forests
into a market already hit hard by reduced demand because of the collapse of
the U.S. housing market has been tough.

As we know, the mountain pine beetle has been the real killer though.
According to new government statistics, about half of the marketable forest
estate in BC (estimated to climb to a staggering 76% by 2015) has been
ravaged by a nearly decade-long beetle infestation. The outbreak of mountain
pine beetles has affected trees over an area of 13.5 million hectares. As of
last month, the insects had infested and killed about 710 million cubic
metres of timber - up from 582 million cubic metres at the same time last
year, according to a recent news release.

To add to the industry's woes, a just released report (see story below) says
that the beetle is now transforming BC's forests into a major source of
greenhouse gases. Federal scientists say that by the time this unprecedented
infestation ends, an extra billion tonnes of carbon dioxide will have been
released into the atmosphere. Big - you better believe it. The reports lead
author says this is five times the annual emissions from all the cars,
trucks, trains and planes in Canada.

After "the beetle has eaten itself out of house and home" in BC the authors
have suggested that given favourable conditions in future, such as the mild
winters now being experienced, the beetle could well spread across Canada's
vast northern boreal forest, one of the most important stores of carbon on
the planet."

 

Max H

 

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