The Climate Report #384 | TCR 384 Trees, Climate & The Biotic Pump | 8/14/23

Welcome to TCR
This is HH your host.
We are on episode number 384.
Today’s Topic is … Trees, Climate & the Biotic Pump

The climate report is about separating truth from fiction in the climate space. There’s a lot of fiction out there, a lot of storytelling, a lot of rhetoric. But we help you separate the rhetoric from the reality.

Part 1. Why this topic (Trees, Climate and the Biotic Pump)
Part 2. Fun facts about the biotic pump
Part 3. What the UN says about Climate Change.
Part 4. More about Trees & Climate

Why this topic?
Must understand it to understand climate.
Little emphasized and rarely talked about.
Describes how forests act to pull rain
This topic encourages (or demands) support for preservation of our forests.

Part 2. Fun Facts about the Biotic Pump.
biotic pump theory shows how forests create and control winds coming up from the ocean and in doing so bring water to the forests further inland (or downwind?)
The biotic pump describes how water vapor given off by trees can drive winds and these winds can cross continents and deliver this moisture to far off forests.
Biotic pump theory has urged forest preservation, restoring hydrologic cycles and planetary cooling.
Trees and plants slow the progress of rainfall.
Trees and plants release water vapor
Trees release VOCs (terpenoids)
Trees release airborne microbes (aerobacter).
These facilitate condensation.
Condensation creates a vacuum.
The Vacuum draws in air from elsewhere, and thus continues the process.
Rain falls more easily into a cool, moist area.
Trees and plants create increasingly healthy soil.
Trees transpire lots of water. This has a cooling effect.
Transpiration puts water back into the atmosphere.
Rainfall helps plant growth, thus increasing forest cover.
Vegetation (trees and plants) create a more moist environment, due to shade, but also due to evaporative cooling.
When sunlight hits an area not covered with plants, it tends to heat up. But plant cover takes the same sunshine and uses it to cool the area down.
Water has a high specific heat, meaning it is slow to take on heat when it’s warming up, and slow to release heat when it’s cooling down.
Tree canopies slow the progression of rain to the soil surface and soften the impact.
Plants create organic matter that create soil carbon, enhancing soil structure for the infiltration and storage of water.
When there is forest cover, this protects soil from erosion.
trees and plants photosynthesize sugars providing a foundational ingredient of life and growth.
Photosynthesis also produces oxygen and removes carbon dioxide from the air.
Trees also provide food and timber, and foster biodiversity.
Forested lands provide ample water for human and animal life. (and plant life, fungi, microbes)
Rajendra Singh, the Waterman of India, led a movement that restored several rivers in Rhajastan increasing vegetation cover from 2% to 48%, cooling the region by 2o Celsius, and increasing rainfall.[17],[19]