For those asking about the best trees for carbon sequestration, this
small item I wrote in Science in 1989 puts a slightly different slant
on things. Also as subsequent event have shown, the future moves in
unpredictable ways and with all due apologies to Matt Chew, not
necessarily in better ways for confessed bibliophiles.--David Duffy
Carbon-Sequestering Science: An
Alternative to "Pesky Electronics"?
Science 1989
With concern growing over the accumulation of
carbon in the atmosphere leading to
global warming through the greenhouse
effect, the public is interested in what scientists
can contribute to the solution of the
problem. Indirectly, we can provide information
on the extent of the problem and on
solutions such as energy conservation, use of
clean fuels, deforestation, and reforestation.
Directly, scientists appear to have little to
offer.
I would like to suggest, however, that
science does have a role to play, both directly
and by example. Scientific libraries are a
modest but useful carbon sink, exactly the
sort of sequestration proposed by Norman
Myers, as quoted in William Booth's News
& Comment article "Johnny Appleseed and
the greenhouse" (7 Oct. 1988, p. 19). Libraries
attempt to preserve their books, thus
preventing carbon release. Rather than the
extremely energy-inefficient proposal of cutting
and burying whole forests underground
or at sea, as suggested by Myers, I propose
that scientists be encouraged to publish and
that more public funds be made available for
their carbon-sequestering literary activities
through increased support for library establishment
and maintenance, subsidized subscriptions,
and research grants to generate
the research necessary for yet more publications.
There are those who complain about the
information glut in science and about overpublishing.
While such logic may be appropriate
within the limited perspective of science
itself, it shows a sad lack of acceptance
of our wider responsibilities to society. Referees
and editors should consider manuscripts
in the context of global climate
change and seek to expand scientific carbon
sequestering. Scientists should produce and
overproduce. We are doing so anyway; now
we have an excuse. Indeed, using science as
an example, society should encourage a return
to book reading and owning and
should discourage all those pesky electronics,
such as compact disks and televisions,
that will do little to keep our seas from rising
or our farms from drying out. A grateful
world will thank us.
David Cameron Duffy
Professor of Botany and Unit Leader
Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU)
University of Hawai`i
3190 Maile Way St. John 410
Honolulu, HI 96822-2279
(808) 956-8218 phone
(808) 956-4710 fax / (808) 956-3923 (backup fax)
email address: [email protected]
