Pirate's Cove

Run for the hill, run for the hills!

An analysis of satellite imagery of the Gulf Coast shows that Hurricane Katrina destroyed an estimated 320 million trees in Mississippi and Louisiana, an unprecedented loss of forestland that will reshape the region for generations, Louisiana researchers reported today.

The death of the trees from wind damage and soaking in saltwater will ultimately release about 367 million tons of carbon dioxide as they decompose — about the same amount that is absorbed by all U.S. forests in a year, according to the study published in the journal Science.

Considered on the vast scale of global climate change, Katrina’s impact is small. But as a one-time event, its infusion of carbon is significant, exceeding an entire season’s worth of emissions from U.S. forest fires.

Hmm, let’s see. A hurricane, which is a natural occurrence, killed lots of trees. Of course, we all know that this is Man’s fault, preferably one man, because the climahysterics feelit. Hurricanes have never destroyed large patches of forests before Jan 20, 2001, you know. Hurricanes like Fran (1996) never destroyed large swaths from Wilmington, NC, up in to Virginia. Andrew never whacked the palms across Florida. Hugo never too out the trees in South Carolina. Nope, never happened.

All in all, it is a shame that all those trees were destroyed, and replanting them should be a priority, but this does inadvertently take a shot at carbon offsets

Most of the lost trees in the Gulf region stood 70 to 100 feet tall, and others will not grow back for decades, if ever, experts said.

All those suckers buying offsets need to realize that the trees that are (supposedly) being planted will take decades to be a viable source of carbon delimitation. The suckers do no really care, though. They are just buying them to feel good, so as they can continue bloviating about man made global warming will changing their lifestyles nary a wit.