Incidentally this is one of the approaches described in Kim Robinson's The Ministry for the Future, a novel on climate change (more about the political ramifications of it than the ecological impacts). Interesting read.
Denmark will plant 1B trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest
171–180 of 481 posts
Re: Denmark will plant 1B trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nitrogen emissions from farming are a big topic in the Netherlands. We have a right wing populist governments that wants to raise maximum speeds back to 130km/h but they can't because of nitrogen emissions that caused the previous government (also right leaning, pro car, etc.) to lower the limits. Intense cattle farming is a big environmental challenge in both countries and it comes at a price. Lots of farting cows i…
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It's not - in New Zealand 35% of GHG emissions are from cattle, with over 53% from agriculture in general.
Source: https://environment.govt.nz/publications/new-zealands-greenh...
Re: Denmark will plant 1B trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
Resistance to a blockade doesn’t require subsidies for growing flowers etc. Subsidizing exports similarly has very different goals.
Sure it does. The goal is keep the farmland available and productive along with keeping agricultural infrastructure. The USA helped win WW2 because our car factory lines were retooled to make war machines.
Demand for war materials goes up in a war, but the population and thus food demand isn’t going to drastically spike.
There’s a reasonable argument for having a food stockpile in case of emergencies, but extra farmland is harder to justify.
Re: Denmark will plant 1B trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest
#174Before I go into rage mode, I suppose I should ask, why Farmland? Both Denmark and Netherland are big in agriculture export and they are very good at it. I am not against planting trees but it on top of farm land doesn't make any sense to me.
Rage mode over more forest? Are you a psycho?
> Both Denmark and Netherland are big in agriculture export and they are very good at it.
And both are tiny and being swarmed by sustainability issues.
Re: Denmark will plant 1B trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
Europe has a huge coastline, it's impossible to blockade. If war breaks out, it's better to shift workers from agriculture to war-related production, and import food from places that are not at war, such as South America. Food produced in Europe is basically a luxury. For every kilogram of beef produced in Denmark, you can buy 2.5 kg of Argentinian beef.
While Europe has a long coastline, there are only a given number of ports capable of the high thoroughput needed to feed Europe’s population. Blockade those and the entrance to the Baltic and Mediterranean, and most of your work is done. Moreover, in a shooting war, merchant ships from other global regions attempting to supply Europe would be targeted.
> Moreover, in a shooting war, merchant ships from other global regions attempting to supply Europe would be targeted.
This happened before, twice. The solution was convoys, it worked both times.
Re: Denmark will plant 1B trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest
#176Before I go into rage mode, I suppose I should ask, why Farmland? Both Denmark and Netherland are big in agriculture export and they are very good at it. I am not against planting trees but it on top of farm land doesn't make any sense to me.
There is no way it's cost effective to produce food in Denmark. If people were rational about this Denmark would be 0-5% farmland. But racism/nationalism and irrational fears and entrenched political power exists so these sane changes only happen slowly. This is a country whose largest imports are (fish, animal feed, wine and cheese) and mostly from other European countries. If they were really worried about min-maxi…
This is a very strange statement. Being able to produce the food needed for your own survival is about the most core national security issue there is.
And having people living healthy, well-fed, lives of leisure seems like a pretty good definition of rich to me. What’s the better one?
Re: Denmark will plant 1B trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure it does. The goal is keep the farmland available and productive along with keeping agricultural infrastructure. The USA helped win WW2 because our car factory lines were retooled to make war machines.
Demand for war materials goes up in a war, but the population and thus food demand isn’t going to drastically spike. There’s a reasonable argument for having a food stockpile in case of emergencies, but extra farmland is harder to justify.
You are going to stockpile years worth of food for an entire country?
Re: Denmark will plant 1B trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest
#178Before I go into rage mode, I suppose I should ask, why Farmland? Both Denmark and Netherland are big in agriculture export and they are very good at it. I am not against planting trees but it on top of farm land doesn't make any sense to me.
Denmark drained the only source of natural diversity it had, its marshlands, after World War I and turned the entire country into farmland. Outside the cities, it is endless fields of farmland. And now its chickens have come home to roost, having poisoned the soil and rivers. This is entirely Denmark's fault, and now they're trying to reverse some of the damage they did.
Re: Denmark will plant 1B trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest
#179Didn't Bill Gates once say that planting trees has no impact on global warming?
If you burn the wood, sure. Forests only capture carbon if you leave that carbon alone forever.
Denmark isn't just trying to reduce their CO2 footprint, though. It's also dealing with terrible soil and water quality, both the result of many years of hyper-intensive farming. That's a local problem that needs local policy to solve.
Re: Denmark will plant 1B trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest
#180Before I go into rage mode, I suppose I should ask, why Farmland? Both Denmark and Netherland are big in agriculture export and they are very good at it. I am not against planting trees but it on top of farm land doesn't make any sense to me.
Simple: Germany has a huge export surplus that China and the USA is unwilling to accept anymore. Also, German economy is stagnate, based on a cheap russian gas and cooperation with china. So now, the idea is to target South America for exports while balancing it with import of South American foodstuff(EU-Mercosur agreement, that we know will not be ratified by individual countries in a democratic process, but by the…
Denmark did get rid of its forests a long time ago, after World War I. Germany has vast forests, a magnitude larger than those in Denmark, a country which is almost entirely farmland outside the cities. You have no idea what you're talking about.