Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emissions

Re:Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emis... by jessriedel on Sunday April 21, 2019 @02:52PM (#19713807)

The cost of global warming and the benefits we've reaped from its cause (cheap power) are both a significant fraction of world GDP. Planting 160 trees per person would be cheap, and even easily do-able by an individual in a few weekends (though it's obviously way more efficient to hire specialists to do it en mass).

The total suitable land area needed (more than the area of the USA, by my estimate) is much more likely to be the limiting factor than the per-person difficulty.

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Re:Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emis... by 14 on Sunday April 21, 2019 @03:02PM (#19713861)

I dislike the US prison system but perhaps we could use prisoners to do it. They could plant hundreds If not thousands within a sentence and one day return to visit the forest they planted.

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Re:Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emis... by lyxsus1 on Sunday April 21, 2019 @06:55PM (#19715094)

I like how we instinctively turn to slavery when there's a grand project that becomes vital.

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Re:Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emis... by Invictus0 on Monday April 22, 2019 @02:26AM (#19716957)

Inmates already volunteer to do forestry work including firefighting. This has been going on for decades and isn't all that controversial. Expanding to planting trees shouldn't be too difficult.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/18/669088658/serving-time-and-fi...

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Re:Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emis... by Aeolun on Sunday April 21, 2019 @07:04PM (#19715120)

All the grand projects of the past few centuries were based on it. Why change a winning strategy?

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Re:Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emis... by lyxsus1 on Sunday April 21, 2019 @07:34PM (#19715226)

Well, we have better means for automation now. But I'm just fascinated how quickly that solution pops up in such discussions as soon as it's convenient.

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Re:Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emis... by lamarpye on Sunday April 21, 2019 @08:42PM (#19715513)

I like how we instinctively characterize prisoners as slaves. Seems like it trivializes actual slavery, but I have been out of school for awhile, so the conventional wisdom is probably different now.

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Re:Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emis... by lyxsus1 on Monday April 22, 2019 @12:44AM (#19716590)

If you don't see labour camps as a form of modern slavery, then I'm genuinely asking you to provide the definition you've learned back at school.

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Re:Planting 1.2T Trees Could Cancel Out a Decade of CO2 Emis... by jessriedel on Monday April 22, 2019 @10:18AM (#19719101)

Traditionally, prison labor is considered distinct from slavery for the same reason that prison is considered distinct from kidnapping and forced confinement: that it reflects just punishment for which someone is duly convicted. Whether that actually applies to most people in prison today is certainly up for debate, but to tell you'd mostly need to look at the judicial system (or society at large), not at the work camp.

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