Weather, Water, Energy 12-18-06

Remember when I linked to the story that planting trees might not be the god-send for slowing global warming that people generally believe. (By "people," I mean "me.") Well, a couple more tree stories today that again show that this stuff is far more complicated than anyone superficial might think. (By "anyone superficial," I mean "me.") First, turns out that soil nutrition is important to leaf area, which is key to sucking up CO2. Second, planting them along the equator, in tropical areas in other words, is still good practice even if planting them further and further north, not so much--they not only absorb CO2 but also increase cloudiness, a TWOFER!!! . . . A couple of British offshore wind farms are coming online which should produce enough renewable power for about 1 m. people, also bringing about 800 new jobs in their construction, 100 permanent. Too bad environmentalism is bad for an economy. . . . Finally, a very nice op-ed in Scientific American outlining "The Challenge of Sustainable Water," although here are words that may scare you into drunken stupor--"Securing water for a growing world will require the best of science, ecology, economics, ethics and international cooperation." They shertainly haf wit me . . . .