Fire Ban

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No burning allowed when the ban is on

There are two urgent reasons to stop commercial logging and protect the forests. A new climate report calls for an immediate halt of greenhouse gas emissions and a study from Italy found air pollution increases Covid-19 mortality.

Climate emergency

On November 5, 2019, more than 11,000 scientists from around the world, encouraged by worldwide youth demands, signed an open letter in the journal BioScience declaring “clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.”

The letter says, “The crisis has arrived and is accelerating faster than expected. It is more severe than anticipated, threatening natural ecosystems and the fate of humanity.”

The scientists’ warning demands a shift from “excessive extraction of materials and overexploitation of ecosystems” to “a carbon-free economy that explicitly addresses human dependence on the biosphere.”

We need to stop burning fossil fuels and instead use carbon-free electricity. Solar cells, hydrogen fuel cells, offshore wind turbines, long-term stationary energy storage microgrids, plus existing dispatchable hydroelectric plants and nuclear plants are all we need.

The EU Biomass Legal Case claims when the UK Drax power station converted four of the six boilers to burn biomass instead of coal, PM emissions increased 400% to 1,000 tons per year. Why would Drax choose to burn US forests as wood pellets in their 4,000 MW power station just to keep the UK Grid running?

U.S. Southeastern forests have been targeted by Enviva, Drax, and other wood pellet mills with false promises of jobs and economic development.

The fiasco of Highland Pellets is well known in Pine Bluff and the Arkansas Teachers Retirement System, with $200 million in the mill. A $3.5 billion “project” to make diesel from natural gas may come to Pine Bluff, as if burning dirty diesel is what we need.

Air pollution increases COVID-19 mortality

Particulate matter, tiny particles invisible to the naked eye, kill people. The human body is unable to stop these particles when breathing without a special face mask. Burning wood pellets in boilers or electric power plants creates PM air pollution, deadly carcinogens with diameters between 2.5 and 10 microns. One micron is one millionth of a meter. The diameter of human hair is 80 microns. The diameter of the Covid-19 virus is 1 micron.

On March 20, Leonardo Setti of the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine found a strong relationship between the dramatic impact of a Covid-19 outbreak in Northern Italy and high concentrations of PM. Harvard School of Public Health confirmed the correlation between increases in concentration PM and Covid-19 mortality rates.  

Andrew Wheeler, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, dismissed a study showing that EPA deregulating air quality standards increased COVID-19 cases.

Wood pellet mills release PM air pollution. A 2019 report sent to Gov. Hutchinson and all Southern states found that wood pellet mills release PM pollution. Gov. Hutchinson and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality ignored the report.

Building a resilient future

Forests are an integral part of the carbon cycle; natural forests sequester 40 times more atmospheric carbon dioxide then pine plantations.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a dress rehearsal for the climate emergency. This is an opportunity to observe how our nation and the world respond to an invisible threat, a humbling experience with great suffering for communities with limited resources. It is also an opportunity to build a resilient future for all people.

Mushrooms are well known in the Ozarks, but fungi and the forest soil have been ignored. Fungi is a unique natural kingdom, different from plants and animals. Please see “Entangled Life” on YouTube, a mind-altering journey into a spectacular and neglected world, showing how fungi provide a key to understanding the planet and life.

Natural solutions based on science are key for both the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate emergency. We need to trust and listen to the experts and work together to save all life. Promoting equality and environmental justice are part of the solution.

Dr. Luis Contreras

5 COMMENTS

  1. “Air Pollution and COVID-19: Particulate Matter increase COVID-19’s Morbidity and Mortality”

    Recent international studies found a high correlation between PM air pollution and COVID-19’s contagion.

    High and rapid increase in COVID-19’s contagion were correlated to a greater level of PM air pollution.

    In China, Italy, and the USA there has been a high number of people infected by COVID-19, explained by the extreme level of air pollutants.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7345938/

  2. Proforestation mitigates climate change and serves the greatest good

    Climate change and loss of biodiversity are widely recognized as the foremost environmental challenges of our time.

    Forests annually sequester large quantities of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), and store carbon above and below ground for long periods of time.

    Intact forests—largely free from human intervention except primarily for trails and hazard removals—are the most carbon-dense and biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems, with additional benefits to society and the economy.

    https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00027/full

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