New hope grows vs. acid rain

[Scro]

WEST THORNTON, N.H. -- You could step right over this patch of miniature sugar maples, scattered on a slope in the White Mountains. The leaves of the seedlings, just inches tall, poke through the forest floor and vie for patches of sunlight beneath a canopy of mature birch and beech trees.

But researchers here see hope in these maples, the trees that feed the maple syrup industry and make New England burst with autumnal color, serving as a calling card for leaf-peeping tourists. After nearly two decades of decline -- as maples withered under acid rain and the syrup season accelerated with rising temperatures -- seedlings are again taking root, through a bold attempt to erase environmental damage.

Five years ago, scientists at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest here dumped pellets of calcium across a 29-acre watershed to replenish soils depleted of the nutrient by acid rain. Nearly five times as many seedlings sprouted on the treated watershed than on an untreated tract last year, and 42 percent of them survived to see this summer.

"These now two-year-old seedlings on the treated watershed are much healthier, larger, greener, and robust than those that have survived in the control area," said Tim Fahey, a Cornell University professor of forest science. "Visually, it's unmistakable."


http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/20/new_hope_grows_vs_acid_rain/

[DUreader]

1. Welcome to DU scro

thanks for this bit of good news

[lapfog_1]

2. YES

Years and years ago (maybe 15 now) a German scientist started
doing research on this and planted a number of test areas,
sprinkling some with ground up granite and others with calcium
and so on. The areas sprinkled with granite (which he claims
occurred naturally at the end of the last ice age by receding
glaciers) did extremely well. His results, though published,
were largely ignored. He claimed then that a massive effort needed
to be taken to save the remaining forests of Europe and that this
was the least expensive method to combat acid rain and gradually
warming temperatures.

I wish I could remember his name.

[robcon]

3. The EPA deserves the credit

The EPA program, targeting coal-burning utilities, has been an outstanding success. The allowance-trading system, as every economics textbook could predict, worked tremendously, not only in reducing emissions, but reducing delays in implementation brought about by lawsuits.

[Lisa]

4. plus it can be used as a template for other emission reductions ...

It looks like there will soon be a "carbon market" set up to help mitigate global warming. If it weren't for the EPA "cap and trade" system developed earlier to reduce SO2 and NOx, there wouldn't really be any precedents.

Bush's people like to say that legislation and policies aimed at cutting back emissions are brand-new and risky, but in reality they are based on a solid foundation of research and practical work that goes back more than a quarter-century. LRTAP (an international agreement signed by European and North American countries, decades ago) was in response to acid rain, and it's recently been beefed up to include other pollutants.

It would be nice if we could just get rid of fossil fuels overnight, but it's economically impossible. Working with the market appears to succeed where relying on political lobbying and the consciences of CEOs can't. Some environmental advocates criticize this as "a license to pollute", but I think it's helped nudge our society into more sustainable practices. The trick is to keep putting on the pressure. We still have acid rain, but in many areas the damage has been reversed or at least halted ... I'd rather they keep on trying to reduce emissions, instead of just relying on liming (of soil and water), because it can only help relatively small areas.

[steely]

5. A successful EPA program?

I thought emissions restriction were slowly being eroded under the current admin., because the reasearchers seemed all to be independently led.

It is good news that the DoJ likes the idea of "liming", and that forrests stand a chance if given the attention, but I saw no EPA involvement mentioned in the article either, and frankly, I didn't think they had any teeth anymore.

FWIW too, near term/quick response fixes are good, but in the long run, I wish BushCo would stop rolling over environmental protections rules, for example, when he plans to allow snowmobiles in Nat'l Parks, or increases the amount of crap that factories can belch into the air.

on edit, Now I see Lisa's post. hear hear