President Ronald Reagan was widely ridiculed over his assertion that acid rain comes from trees. As it happened, he believed that nitrogen oxide compounds were involved, and that does not appear to be the case. So the geriatric old fool was wrong! Great stuff for the late-night comedians, among other detractors.
But a funny thing happened: further study has indicated that a significant amount of a compound known as formic acid is derived from by-products associated with the photolysis of terpenoids, which is generated in tremendous quantities during the spring growing season of...boreal forests. Trees, in other words.
And not just any old trees: The boreal forests ring the regions immediately south of the Arctic Circle in a vast expanse that easily rivals the rainforest regions of the world. The northern boreal ecoregion accounts for about one third of this planet's total forest area. This broad circumpolar band runs through most of Canada, Russia and Scandinavia.
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New satellite data shows more than 100 million tonnes of formic acid is produced naturally each year – far more than thought and 10 times the total from all known sources. Until now. The precursor to these millions of tons of formic acid, the terpenoids, are produced largely by conifer trees. You know - evergreen trees like spruce and fir, pine and cedar - the very species of trees found in the forests across the Pacific northwest that have been placed off-limits to harvesting in order to Save The Planet™. While the steps taken to reduce pollution from coal-fired steel plants and power plants are laudable and have achieved great success, the far greater output of pollutants arising from our rainforests bear consideration as well. President Reagan may not have been completely correct, but it is certain that he was not wrong. Oh, and by the way, lest you forget - the Science Is Settled™ on the subject of anthropogenic global warming, as well. |
