Comment Re:Why doesn't anybody do the easy thing? (Score 1) 1120
"We just need to turn the United States into a temperate rain forest"
Unfortunately, this is not "the easy thing." There are only a few small portions of the US which are climatically capable of supporting temperate rainforest. Specifically, these are the Pacific Northwest (from N. California to WA), coastal Alaska and parts of the southern Appalachian range. These areas are all temperate (as opposed to most of the interior which is either too hot or too cold) and receive comparatively large amounts of rainfall, which comprise the key climatic factors supporting temperate rainforests.
However, broad-based reforestation is a laudable goal despite this nit-picking regarding the specifically stated goal.
Of course, biomass generation can be achieved far more rapidly through the use of high-production plants such as bamboo and hemp, which dramatically out-produce the vast majority of tree species in raw biomass over time.
Unfortunately, this is not "the easy thing." There are only a few small portions of the US which are climatically capable of supporting temperate rainforest. Specifically, these are the Pacific Northwest (from N. California to WA), coastal Alaska and parts of the southern Appalachian range. These areas are all temperate (as opposed to most of the interior which is either too hot or too cold) and receive comparatively large amounts of rainfall, which comprise the key climatic factors supporting temperate rainforests.
However, broad-based reforestation is a laudable goal despite this nit-picking regarding the specifically stated goal.
Of course, biomass generation can be achieved far more rapidly through the use of high-production plants such as bamboo and hemp, which dramatically out-produce the vast majority of tree species in raw biomass over time.
