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View Full Version : A major source of methane is...trees, plants


Regis Philbin
May 13th, 2007, 11:48 PM
OK. I'm really confused now. Does this mean we can't plant trees anymore? Are trees bad or good? I like trees---no I'm not a tree hugger---but I like trees. I'm going to keep planting them anyway... :scratch:

What about the cattle flatulence??? :bunny:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4604332.stm

Plants revealed as methane source

By Tim Hirsch
BBC News environment correspondent

11 January 2006

Forests may add to methane levels, scientists say
Scientists in Germany have discovered that ordinary plants produce significant amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas which helps trap the sun's energy in the atmosphere.

The findings, reported in the journal Nature, have been described as "startling", and may force a rethink of the role played by forests in holding back the pace of global warming.

And the BBC News Website has learned that the research, based on observations in the laboratory, appears to be corroborated by unpublished observations of methane levels in the Brazilian Amazon.

Until now, it had been thought that natural sources of methane were mainly limited to environments where bacteria acted on vegetation in conditions of low oxygen levels, such as in swamps and rice paddies.

Richard Tafoya
May 14th, 2007, 12:35 AM
Did it really take 15 months for Drudge and Limbaugh to find this?