Kann sich noch jemand an das große, europäische Waldsterben erinnern? Wie es scheint, hat sich genau das Gegenteil davon ereignet. In den vergangenen 15 Jahren ist es offenbar zu einer merklichen Ausdehnung europäischer Wälder gekommen:
The study finds that between 1990 and 2005, expansion of above-ground tree vegetation in the 27 EU countries annually absorbed an additional 126 teragrams (126 million tonnes) of carbon—equal to 11% of the region’s emissions. [...]
Their “Forest Identity” calculation also quantifies the biomass and atmospheric carbon stored in forests. They reported that, amid widespread concern about deforestation, growing stock has in fact expanded over the past 15 years in 22 of the 50 countries with most forest, including several EU members.
“The good news is that trees are extremely efficient mechanisms for capturing and storing carbon,” says Prof. Kauppi, a member of the Nobel-laureate UN International Panel on Climate Change. “The better news is that Europe’s forests are thriving and expanding and therefore will play an increasingly important role in helping the EU to reach its environmental goals.”
“Every year, the expanding European forests remove a surprisingly large amount of carbon from the atmosphere,” says co-author Aapo Rautiainen. “According to rough estimates, their impact in reducing atmospheric carbon may well be twice that achieved by the use of renewable energy in Europe today.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071129113752.htm
