Quote:
Originally Posted by Broadsword2004
....I had read that actually we have more trees per capita today than back in the 1800s, because modern farming allows us to grow far more food using far less land, so land that formerly was farmland has been able to grow back into forest.
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Before the mid 19th century the coast Redwoods covered some 2 million acres of the American Pacific coast line. In the 1830's American loggers discovered them and began harvesting; by the 1850's logging Redwoods was going strong. The end of the Second World War, power tools, and the postwar housing boom resulted in the harvesting of about 95% of the existing forests (approximately an area the size of three Rhode Island). --A Man Among Giants Readers Digest April 2014 p116--
Per capita is an interesting concept. But it is hardly fair to compare exchanging a 2,000 year old 140 foot tall Red Wood with the 10 year old 10 foot tall Japanese Maple I planted in my yard last year.
The article cited is really more about efforts to clone significant examples of major tree species then about global climate change.