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Article: Trees can slow the greenhouse effect.
- Article from:
- USA TODAY
- Article date:
- June 1, 1994
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Society for the Advancement of Education. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The practice of agroforestry--growing trees and agricultural crops on the same land--will slow the "greenhouse effect" that threatens the Earth, according to University of Missouri-Columbia scientists. "The average tree absorbs about 13 pounds of carbon and carbon dioxide per year. Just an acre's worth of agroforestry plantings, using a 10' by 40' tree spacing, would tie up 1,500 pounds of carbon dioxide over the life of those trees," explains Bruce Cutter, a forestry researcher. "Then, if these trees were made into useful, permanent products, the bulk of the carbon dioxide in these trees would be unavailable to contribute to global warming and its possible consequences." ...