Seeing the Forests and the Trees

The May Edition of the National Geographic was all about forests with a focus on explaining the importance of forests, the critical role they play in protecting our planet from various climate related problems, and how the scientific and environmental communities are working to save them, and ultimately, ourselves.

From old growth forests in Europe to new clues about arboreal evolution to return to ancient methods for reducing the damage to forests caused by fires, to a glimpse at the Phantom Redwood, which is a rare albino variety of the redwood, the issue delved into everything forests and trees in an attempt to convey that, while trees are under attack from climate change and other human caused disturbances, there is time to limit the damage with a concerted effort.

And, of course, as is typical with Nat Geo, the issue was replete with pictures depicting the wide range of the beauty of forests.

Among the many things I learned is that their is a world wide effort to bring tourism into play in an attempt to create a bridge between  interest in environmental concerns that exploring our natural world can inspire in individual tourists, and the communities which work to alter their behavior in order to create such ecotourist destinations, which, in turn can lead to a positive feedback loop between environmental groups and the public in general, who often perceive the environmental movement in a negative light; what we shouldn't do, and/or what we need to sacrifice in order to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gases.

It is that type of paradigm shift that is necessary to convince the public that working towards the goal of keeping climate change within another degree, or even half a degree, Fahrenheit, is a win-win situation.  Towards that end, I read of programs in various places around the world which feature canopy walkways.  These unique tourist attractions allow us to "return to the trees" so to speak by gaining a completely different perspective of our world from the top of a stand of trees. 

Another article related the effort by scientists to help trees migrate, a process that has been ongoing, naturally, for many decades as our climate has warmed.  The idea is to plant seedlings of tree species just a bit north of where they might ordinarily thrive in hopes that in the following years, the trees of these new forests will find the new weather pattern conducive to growth.  It is a delicate balance of choosing the right tree species, predicting the distance that the tree lines are already moving, and finding the right location.

There is also an interesting article about a renewed effort in Australia to learn, or perhaps relearn is the better word, the Aboriginal methods of using small, controlled fires to clear the brush during the wetter seasons, so that the eventual fires that occur during the hot, dry seasons encounter less tinder as fuel which reduce the loss of acreage to those inevitable fires.  

Just another example of working in harmony with nature rather than trying to dominate her, a process that always backfires.

While it is always a pleasure to delve into a dedicated Nat Geo issue, and always inspiring to read about all the people who spend their time to learn about nature, whether it be animals or plants, we are in a the middle of a difficult time featuring intense pressure to put aside our concerns for the environment.  The war in Ukraine with its associated disruptions in the global supply of gas and oil, seems to be far and away a bigger issue than the "down the road problems" that will occur via climate change.  It is just another example in a long history of short term thinking that finds us in the same place as we were about 50 years ago when the OPEC oil embargo caused a spike in gas prices and long lines at the pump.  Despite that stark warning, that America would never be able to meet its energy demands without depending on some form of imports, and that, ultimately, even if we somehow managed to refine as much oil as we need, the price at the pump will always be effected by the global give and take of supply and demand, we continue to pretend that drilling for more fossil fuels is the answer.

And, while there are no easy solutions to both our energy supply issues and the environmental damages which human induced climate change is already creating, there are clear cut pathways to finding the balance which will address both at the same time.  You can say that we lack the will, or that we lack the vision, or that we lack the patience to take the steps we must take, even when there is short term discomfort.  In the end, however, it won't matter why we didn't do what was proper, only that we left future generations with a limited time and limited resources, both which we have been wasting for decades.

The good news is that those species seeing the forests and the trees in 300 years may still be able to witness such majesty, diversity, and life. The bad news is that one must wonder if the human species will be among them.