Ive come across a few places that have said that logging releases carbon – how is the carbon released into the atmosphere – isnt most of the logging for timber/pulp, not firewood?
Eg
https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/logging-carbon-emissions-us-forests/
https://youtu.be/JnTZ19l6TYg?t=201
In: 2
Old growth would be used for timber. Some percentage of it gets burned, which releases carbon. I don’t know how significant that is. They trees, though, were actively scrubbing CO and turning it into wood. Maybe not capturing carbon can be viewed as releasing carbon. Regardless of the wording, it has huge impact.
The analysis has to be deeper than just end use.
First, logging is not a 100% recovery process. The bulk of the organic matter in trees regardless will be discarded. Logging does not make leaves and roots and small branches and bark into useful material (mostly). To get 1 ton of wood another few tons of other “stuff” is thrown away. On top of that, the forest exists in an ecosystem that is not unaffected. You can not log a forest without clearing roads, cutting underbrush and generally making it easier for humans to get into the forest.
What happens then is that natural decay processes will convert that biomass into carbon dioxide. Since it takes decades if not centuries for trees to regrow, that means a large part of the carbon stored as organic matter will be released into the atmosphere before new trees can take up that carbon and grow into trees again. This might have been carbon that was sequestered many many decades ago.
Modern practices can mitigate some of this as most places likely no longer practice clear cutting of forests and are more selective about the trees they harvest. Nonetheless, it shouldn’t be surprising that the older and larger trees are harvested. It should also be mentioned that forest management practices that can mitigate fire danger might be beneficial in some aspects so it isn’t always a simple black and white issue. (Not all forest fires should be prevented because fire is also a natural process that reduces fuel loads and perhaps help prevent very large forest fires)
Even if it’s not being burned, all the leaves and bark and roots that get throw away, they will decompose in a big pile of leaves somewhere. That releases CO2 as they are decomposing. It’s like a compost heap, little airborne bacteria and fungus lands on the dead stuff and eats it and “breathes” out CO2 while breaking down the dead plant matter.
Also all the machines and trucks and chainsaws burning fuel
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