(CNN) — Forests in the Pacific Northwest are dying twice as fast as they were 17 years ago, and scientists blame warming temperatures for the trend, according to a new study.

The study, to be released Friday in the journal Science, is the first large-scale analysis of environmental changes as contributing factors in the mortality of coniferous forests.

The data for this research was gathered by generations of scientists over a 50-year period at multiple sites in Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and southwestern British Columbia. Seventy-six forest plots, all more than 200 years old, were monitored by scientists doing some of the most rudimentary research — counting trees.

The study primarily focused on three types of coniferous trees: pines, firs and hemlocks. Older-growth forests — some up to 500 years old — have trees of all ages, and researchers found that mortality rates have increased for all age groups. Since mortality rates went up across the board, scientists ruled out a number of other possible causes, including ozone-related air pollution, long-term effects of fire suppression and normal forest dynamics.

In the end, California had the highest tree death rate. Of the three types of coniferous trees studied, pines were found to be dying at the fastest rate. Ultimately, higher tree mortality may lead to significant shifts in forest structure and function, the report states.

via Global warming threatens forests, study says – CNN.com.

If only I could think of a way to reduce the need to cut down so many of these trees for paper and building materials, while simultaneously fighting global warming by creating huge “carbon sinks” that would take in greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and expel healthy oxygen, and providing an alternative fuel source for the gas-burning vehicles that contribute so heavily to pollution and global warming…

I know if I just smoke another joint, it will come to me…

Related posts

• Zogby Poll: Nearly 6 in 10 on West Coast favor marijuana legalization (3)
• Illegal California MJ Grows are Harming the Environment (0)
• Willamette Week’s cover story on legalization (1)

Greening the Green « Terrain Magazine, Winter 2007 « Ecology Center
According to a 2006 report by Dr. Jon B. Gettman of Shepherd University, California leads the nation in indoor and outdoor marijuana production. It is the state’s largest cash crop, generating nearly $14 billion, more than grapes, vegetables, and hay combined. Moreover, production has increased ten-fold in the last 25 years. Much of that production takes place in marginal and remote areas, where ATVs power up hills to tiny outcrops, generators thunder day and night, and water trucks suck water out of tiny creeks.

Humboldt County supervising environmental health specialist Melissa Martel says that diesel bioaccumulates in aquatic species and continues up the food chain. “The coating action of diesel oil can kill algae, insects, fish and birds,” she says. “Studies indicate that 50 percent of fish will die when exposed to about 1 teaspoon of diesel in 25 gallons of water.”

Diesel setups are so prevalent that Martel gives advice on setting up safe fuel conveyance systems. “The growers that we investigate aren’t the peace-loving, organic-growing hippies that you might imagine. We find 100-KW generators with multiple 10,000-gallon diesel storage tanks sitting on the ground, commonly in a creek drainage with good riparian coverage, with makeshift piping, hoses, and no seismic support. Not surprisingly, grows are too frequently discovered by CDF or local volunteer fire [fighters] when the grow and surrounding trees are on fire.”

You know what crops aren’t causing huge environmental concerns in California?  Grapes, vegetables, and hay, because those items are legal to grow and farmers must follow environmental regulations.  Once again, it is the prohibition of marijuana that makes it so profitable to farm illegally in the remote forests of the Golden State.

When people can grow marijuana legally, these problems don’t exist:

“There is a serious distinction to be made. Many medical [legal] marijuana growers are some of the most responsible citizens around. They buy soil in bulk, use rat traps instead of poison, water with timers and drip systems. They have very little physical impact on the land. I’m not up against legal growers. The ones I’m concerned with are the ones polluting the environment in the name of huge profits. The plants are seasonal, but the environmental damage lasts forever.”

Related posts

• Global warming threatens forests, study says (3)
• Zogby Poll: Nearly 6 in 10 on West Coast favor marijuana legalization (3)
• Zogby Poll: 72% of Voters Want Obama to End DEA Medical Marijuana Raids (6)