Global Warming and Photosynthesis

I had the tree in the photograph planted in my back yard this morning.  So today, my thoughts are about global warming.  Let me explain.

I confess that I don’t know all that much about global warming, the Paris Accords (the international effort to combat global warming), the Green New Deal, or Laudato Si’, which is Pope Francis’ encyclical on the care of our common home, the Earth.  What I do know is that the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide, a so-called greenhouse gas, in Earth’s atmosphere is said to be a major cause of global warming.  What I also know is that photosynthesis is the process by which the carbon dioxide in the air is consumed by the reaction with water from rain and the chlorophyll in green tree leaves (in the presence of sunlight) to produce oxygen.  And I have read that the destruction of our rain forests worldwide has contributed majorly to global warming because it is one factor that has caused the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air to increase – fewer trees leads to less carbon dioxide being consumed and therefore an increase in the carbon dioxide concentration in the air.  This leads me to the obvious solution:  plant more trees!

All that I have read or heard seems to suggest that the focus is on somehow lowering the carbon dioxide emissions from our vehicles and industries that burn fossil fuels and thereby produce this offending gas.  Another focus that I’ve heard about is the emissions produced by our cattle passing gas (the Green New Deal), which seems rather ludicrous to me.  The folks that oppose the curbing of the emissions idea, aside from their claim that global warming is a hoax) point to the damage that it would do to the worldwide economy.  And that is also something that seems obvious.

So … why not undergo a massive international effort to plant more trees?  Here in the United States (and in Europe, as I have seen), the federal and state governments own land that can be used for this purpose.  When I drive our interstate highway system, I think about all the wasted space in the medians and shoulder areas.  Imagine this space being filled up with trees!  I would like to see a study done to see exactly how “massive” the effort would need to be in order to have the desired effect.

But all of this aside, if the science is indeed valid, I think we need to pray.  If you are a global warming alarmist and also an atheist, maybe it is time for you to consider what a Supreme Being (God) could do for us if we would but ask.  Jesus has said time and again that He will grant what we ask if it is the Father’s will.  I have to believe that saving our planet is something that is in accord with the Father’s will.  Amen!