Recent study finds Hurricane Katrina forest damage a major carbon source
Amanda Flitter
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: News
A study published in the journal "Science" by a group of scientists from UNH and Tulane University revealed that Hurricane Katrina, one of the biggest ecological disasters in United States history, damaged about 320 million large trees.
The dead and dying trees will release about 105 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equaling the net amount of carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere by all of the forests in the United States in one year. This large amount of carbon dioxide raises concerns about possible effects on global warming in the future as well as the importance of the human role.
"I think we're going to recognize it's not just hurricanes," said Dr. Berrien Moore III, director of the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space. "It's not Hurricane Katrina, it's humans… We are going to have to monitor very carefully the state of the planet. There will be other Katrinas."
Dr. George Hurtt, associate professor of natural resources at UNH, participated in the study. The scientists used extensive field studies in conjunction with satellite images of the area before and after Katrina to assess damage. Hurtt said that when the team of scientists added up their data the damage was more than they had predicted.
"We were expecting big numbers, but we got huge numbers," Hurtt said. "That's a tree for every person in the country."
He said the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere could potentially create a "severe crisis" in the future by making global warming worse.
Hurtt said the crisis he is concerned about is a positive feedback cycle. If carbon emissions outpace carbon sink processes, which take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, excess carbon dioxide collects in the atmosphere and traps heat. The earth becomes warmer, and as a result more intense storms occur that destroy more trees. More dead trees release more carbon dioxide, which contributes to further global warming.
The dead and dying trees will release about 105 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, equaling the net amount of carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere by all of the forests in the United States in one year. This large amount of carbon dioxide raises concerns about possible effects on global warming in the future as well as the importance of the human role.
"I think we're going to recognize it's not just hurricanes," said Dr. Berrien Moore III, director of the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space. "It's not Hurricane Katrina, it's humans… We are going to have to monitor very carefully the state of the planet. There will be other Katrinas."
Dr. George Hurtt, associate professor of natural resources at UNH, participated in the study. The scientists used extensive field studies in conjunction with satellite images of the area before and after Katrina to assess damage. Hurtt said that when the team of scientists added up their data the damage was more than they had predicted.
"We were expecting big numbers, but we got huge numbers," Hurtt said. "That's a tree for every person in the country."
He said the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere could potentially create a "severe crisis" in the future by making global warming worse.
Hurtt said the crisis he is concerned about is a positive feedback cycle. If carbon emissions outpace carbon sink processes, which take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, excess carbon dioxide collects in the atmosphere and traps heat. The earth becomes warmer, and as a result more intense storms occur that destroy more trees. More dead trees release more carbon dioxide, which contributes to further global warming.
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