Welcome to the First Edition of Special Publications no.6.

ThIs work first took shape in an article which appeared, march 21st 1994, in ‘terra firm’ issue 5. This article was then extended and rewritten, august 16th 1994, for the first issue of ‘doom, doom, doom, and doom’. It was then further updated and extended for this publication which was published on september 21st 1995.

Welcome to the Second Edition of Special Publications no.6.

The first edition of this work was entirely ignored by the green movement. It was not reviewed, or even mentioned, in a single green magazine. Greens are much too preoccupied with reducing Carbon emissions to bother about the destruction of the Earth’s Photosynthetic capacity - the key factor in the Earth's climate stabilization system and the basis of the Earth’s life support system!

The first edition was also of relevance to the Animal rights movement but it too showed no interest. Animal rightists are much too concerned with protecting and liberating Animals to bother about the fact that Wildlife (like oomans) depend on the Earth’s Phytomass for their survival.

This second edition is part of a campaign to highlight the fact that it is not possible to fight against:

* the Animal exploitation industry,

* global poverty,

* global inequality between nations,

* global burning, and

* ecological devastation,

without demanding the regeneration of the Earth’s Photosynthetic capacity. In other words, the campaign for global Reforestation unites the campaigns for Animal freedom, global justice, a stable climate, and a sustainable Planet.

These propositions can be encapsulated in the world’s first scientific definition of sustainability: ‘A sustainable planet is one in which the dominant species regulates the scale of the Earth’s Forest cover to ensure the stabilization of the Planet’s climate. Stabilizing the climate is possible only through the creation of ooman-free Wilderness areas, climate Forests, and regional Forests from which oomans could obtain the food, energy, raw materials, and chemicals, needed for a sustainable life. The creation of a sustainable planet necessitates the abolition of the geophysiological inequalities between nations and species.'[1]

This edition has been updated, grossly enlarged, and considerably re-organized, from the first edition.

A few months ago the worldwide fund for nature published a damning report on the destruction of the world’s natural wealth (as distinct from the Earth’s life support system). The launch of this report achieved a modicum of publicity - which is a damn sight more than most green publications get, “A grim warning was sounded yesterday on the global catastrophe threatened by the destruction of the world’s natural wealth - cut by a third in the last 25 years. Freshwater life in rivers and lakes has been halved, marine ecosystems are down by 30% and we have destroyed 10% of the world’s Forests.”[2] Unfortunately, the same day, friday 2nd october 1998, media attention was grabbed by falls on the world's stock markets. The possibility of an ecological meltdown couldn’t compete with the idea of a global economic meltdown and soon got pushed into oblivion as countries decided they had to go, yet again, for all out economic growth - irrespective of the further damage this would do to the planet’s life support system. It's not long to go now before the self-indulgent, over-privileged, morons get their just deserts.

Welcome to the Third Edition of Special Publications no.6.

The second edition was published march 3rd 1999. The structure of this edition is almost exactly the same as the last. This edition includes a large number of additional notes. The biggest difference is that this edition provides a far more detailed discussion of the overall impact that oomans are having on the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity and its implications for ooman survival.

For many years the mundi club took this phrase, 'the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity' for granted - assuming that its meaning was clear and that it had scientific credibility. The mundi club's attitude wasn't even ruffled when, in the mid-1990s, a 'New Scientist' article queried the meaning of the phrase. It was only recently, october 2002, that the mundi club discovered, through a quick search of the internet using google's search engine, that it was the only organization using the phrase. The discovery of the phrase's uniqueness was quite a shock - although it is surely one of the ugliest phrases the mundi club has ever invented. The fact that scientists and so-called greens have not developed a concept for the totality of the Photosynthesis taking place on Earth seems to indicate they are not interested in such an issue. This in turn suggests they have little interest in the role of Phytomass in shaping the Earth's history and its climate. This is not merely more evidence of the bankruptcy of the so-called green movement but the ease with which oomans are slithering towards ecocide without any voices being raised in warning. The mundi club has often argued that so-called greens have no concept of sustainability and no vision of a sustainable planet but to find they don't even have a concept for the totality of the Photosynthesis taking place on Earth is truly remarkable. It could be argued the best way of determining whether someone is a real green or a 'greenless green' is to ask them for their definition of sustainability. If they don't mention the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity then they are a greenless green.

Introduction: The Earth's Life Support System.

Life exists on Earth solely because of Photosynthesis. Without the ability of Micro-organisms, Fungi, and Plants, to carry out Photosynthesis there would be no life on Earth, and the Earth itself would not be alive. Photosynthesizers are the foundation of the food chain on which all Animals, including oomans, depend. They also make the Earth habitable for Animals by providing habitats such as Coral reefs, Forests, Grasslands, etc. They provide environmental services making it possible for life to flourish. But, most startlingly of all, Photosynthesizers help to stabilize the Earth's climate. The difference between, on the one hand, environmentalists, ecologists, and members of the green movement and, on the other hand, geophysiologists, is that the former use the concept of sustainability without any reference to Photosynthesis (and thus invariably promote policies which destroy Photosynthesis) whilst the latter believe the concept is meaningless without Photosynthesis. To all intents and purposes, the Earth’s Photosynthetic capacity is the basis of the Earth's climate stabilization system and thus the basis of the Earth’s life support system.

Since the formation of the Earth, the number and range of Photosynthesizers has increased substantially. The first Photosynthesizers were Bacteria. Aeons later simple Plants such as Grasses appeared. During the paleozoic period (570-245 million years ago), Grasses started diversifying into the wide range of different Trees which exist today. The Earth's current Photosynthesizers consist of Micro-organisms (in topsoil, wetlands, and in the oceans); Grasses (both terrestrial and marine), Coral reefs, and Trees (terrestrial and marine).

It is not known how much Photosynthesis is carried out by each type of Photosynthesizer nor the totality of Photosynthesis on Earth. Some commentators allege that the land carries out more Photosynthesis than the seas, "Although an estimated 41% of photosynthetic activity takes place in the oceans, it is the 59% occurring on land that underpins the world economy."[3] Other commentators contend that the oceans carry out more Photosynthesis than Forests.[4]

The following quote is an outline of the relative importance of the Earth’s Photosynthesizers and the role they play in the Earth's Carbon spiral, "Though carbon makes up 4% of the earth's mass, most of it is contained in inorganic rock material or enclosed organic material. Only a tiny fraction (0.04%) participates in the atmospheric-biological-oceanic carbon cycle that influences the world's climate. This cycle occurs between five major reservoirs: the atmosphere itself, the terrestrial biosphere consisting of land biota and soils, the upper (mixed) layer of the ocean, and the deep ocean. Most (about 95%) of the carbon participating in this cycle is contained in dissolved form in the deep ocean. In principle, the deep ocean could buffer against disturbances in the other carbon cycle reservoirs, and restore the atmosphere close to its original condition. However, the deep ocean is separated from the mixed layers of the upper ocean (0-75m) by a thermocline. The rate of exchange across this boundary is very slow and, like so many aspects of the carbon cycle, not precisely known, but probably more important than the net terrestrial fluxes. To the extent that the deep ocean does act as a buffer, this activity is measured in thousands of years. On a timescale less than thousands of years, the world's climate is thus controlled by the exchange processes in the carbon cycle reservoirs. Here, the terrestrial systems of vegetation and soil are more important than is suggested by their relative size. The land biota alone accounts for 420-660 billion tons of carbon. About 90% of the carbon in vegetation is contained in the woody biomass of forests and trees, and only the remaining small fraction is found in crops and grasslands. But an even larger terrestrial carbon reservoir of about 1500btC is found in the humus materials of the surface layer (top 1m) of soils. In combination, the carbon in land biota and humus adds up to about 2000-2500 btC. Soils also contain inorganic carbonates of the order of 1000btC. Peat and other "subfossil" organic materials contain a further 1000-3000btC. The atmosphere contains presently about 740btC, which is only a third as much as that stored in biomass. The carbon stored in the upper (0-75m) layer of the ocean is about the same or 600-700btC. The sum of terrestrial, atmospheric, and upper ocean reservoirs represent about 3300-4000btC. The terrestrial systems alone contain about 75% of the fast cycle biospheric carbon that is not in the atmosphere already."[5]

If oomans destroyed the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity they would destroy themselves and all life on Earth. It is, however, extremely unlikely that oomans would ever be able to eradicate Photosynthesis on Earth. They would probably eradicate themselves before eradicating Photosynthesis. But, if they damaged enough of the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity they could trigger off a global burning disaster which could eventually lead to the destruction of all Photosynthesis on Earth and thus all life on Earth. The greater the anthropogenic destruction of the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity, the greater the destabilization of the climate, the greater the momentum of a runaway global burning disaster, the greater the climatic devastation of the Earth's Photosynthetic capacity, the more likely is the eradication of all life on Earth.

Unfortunately there are greens who believe there is no such thing as geophysiological limits. Richard north argues, "But what do we know about this business of the world already being beyond its limits? In cold blood, we know nothing. Locally, there are problems in some places: that is obvious. All the rest, all the planetary talk, is speculation."[6] He continues, "In short, while there are ecological rules on this Planet - naturally - there are no limits that we know of."[7] Although at the moment it is not possible to be precise, there are geophysiological limitations to oomans’ destruction of the Earth’s Photosynthetic capacity.

This work is concerned with exploring how much damage has been inflicted on the Earth’s Photosynthetic capacity. If enough information was available about the current scale of Photosynthesis on Earth, and the rate of the damage being inflicted on it, it should be possible to extrapolate just how much time is left before oomans destroy themselves.

This work is complemented by other mundi club publications:-

* ‘The Manifesto for a Sustainable Planet’ - outlines the causes of the destruction of Photosynthesis;

* Terra Firm no.4 ‘Environmental Disasters’ - discusses the causes of the destruction of Photosynthesis;

* Terra Firm no.5 ‘The Great Carbon Emissions Fraud. The Green Movement’s Opposition to Reforestation’

& Terra Firm no.9 ‘The Great Carbon Emissions Fraud. The Green Movement’s Opposition to Reforestation; Part two’ - these publications pinpointing green indifference, and opposition, to Reforestation;

* Terra Firm no.12 ‘The Essence of the History of the Earth’ - refutes the argument that it is not possible to destroy Photosynthesis on Earth. See section 7. Conclusions. The Consequence of the Decimation of Photosynthesis.

* Carbonomics II ‘How Does the Earth Stabilize the Climate?’ - highlights how the Earth’s Photosynthetic capacity has stabilized the climate over the last 3 aeons;

* Special Publications no.27 ‘The Damage Inflicted on the Third World by Global Burning’ - this indicates the destruction of Photosynthesis caused by climate change.

PART ONE: THE ANTHROPOGENIC REDUCTION OF
THE EARTH’S PHOTOSYNTHETIC CAPACITY.

1.1: The Earth’s Current Forest Cover.

1.1.1: The Scale of Global Forest Cover after the End of the Last Ice Age.

Much of the amero-euro-asian continents were buried under ice sheets during the last ice age. About 10,000 years ago the ice sheets began retreating and the exposed land was gradually covered in Forests. Vast areas of the Earth were draped in Forests, “Before the dawn of agriculture, some 10,000 years ago, the Earth boasted a rich mantle of forest and open woodland covering 6.2 billion hectares.”[8]; “Before humans invented agriculture there were 6 billion hectares of forest on Earth.”[9]; “Forests once covered about 90% of the surface of the Earth.”[10]; "Before the advent of agricultural civilizations, about 10,000 years before present, forests and open woodlands covered an estimated 6.2 billion ha, or about 47% of the world's land area."[11]; Unep’s estimate .. “suggests that in pre-agricultural times there was a total of .. 46.28mkm².”[12]

1.1.2: The Recent Historical Scale of Forest Cover by Continent.

1.1.2.1: Africa.

North Africa.

The sahara was once a luxurious Forest teeming with a wide array of Wildlife .. “the original forests that once stretched from Morocco to Afghanistan even as late as 2000 BC ...”[13]; "The deserts, the bad fields of the maghreb countries of Northern Africa are still, 2,000 years later, to a large extent the sad outcome of anti-ecological practices, of the way the corn was ground in order to be shipped to Rome, to be the panem part of the panem et circenses  formula. And there it was eaten, and it went down the sewers into the Mediterranean, and that was where the fertilizer went instead of being recycled back into the ground from which it was taken."[14]

1.1.2.2: The Americas.

Costa Rica.

“Costa Rica was once almost completely cloaked in tropical forest.”[15]

The United States of America.

“In 1790 .. forests covered about one million square miles of the United States.”[16]

1.1.2.3: Asia.

China.

“In China .. it is estimated that natural forests originally covered three quarters of the land.”[17]

Pakistan.

“What is now the Thar desert in Rajasthan and the Punjab, an area extending over about 100,000 square miles, was still an impenetrable jungle 2,000 years ago.”[18]

1.1.2.4: Europe.

General.

“By 1200 Europeans had cut and ploughed their way across the continent with such thoroughness that they threatened to create a treeless desert. With a few great exceptions, Europe’s great forests date from the late Middle Ages.”[19]; “One thousand years ago, 80% of central Europe was forested.”[20]; “Forests originally covered about 95% of western and central europe. By the end of the great period of medieval colonization this had been reduced to about 20%.”[21]; "One thousand years ago, most of northern europe, including Britain, was forested."[22]

France.

“France, once 80% forested, by 1789 had trees covering only 14% of its land.”[23]

1.1.3: The Historical Scale of Forest Cover by Forest Type.

Tropical Rainforests.

“Two thousand years ago, the tropical rainforest alone extended over 5 billion acres, covering 12% of the Earth’s land surface.”[24]; Unep’s estimate .. “suggests that in pre-agricultural times there was a total of 12.77 million km² of tropical closed Forest ...”[25]

1.1.4: The Current Scale of Forest Cover.

1.1.4.1: The World’s Forest Cover by Forest Type.

Tropical Forests.

“Tropical rainforests are defined primarily by two factors: location (in the tropics) and amount of rainfall they receive. Rainforests receive from 4-8 meters a year ... Another distinctive characteristic is that rainforests have no “seasonality” - no dry or cold season of slower growth.”[26]; “The tropical evergreen Forest - that is the tropical rain forest proper - occurs within 4 degrees north and south of the equator, although other varieties of tropical Forest - for example tropical deciduous Forest and tropical open Woodland - are to be found covering wide areas between the tropics and capricorn and cancer.”[27]; “Running like a girdle around the equator, tropical Forests cover some 900 million hectares. They are divided between south america (58%), africa (19%), asia (10%) and oceania (10%). Brazil contains almost 33% of the total, and zaire and indonesia each has 10%. Papua new guinea, bolivia, colombia, venezuela, peru, gabon and burma each has over 2000,000 square kilometres of tropical Forest. Thus, brazil, zaire and indonesia jointly own more than half the world's tropical forests.”[28]; “Latin America possesses 57% of the world’s tropical forests.”[29]

Temperate Forests.

Temperate Forests consist of broad leaved, hardwoods such as Oak, Hickory and Beech and, in more southerly regions, Magnolia, “Temperate forests include deciduous woodlands such as those dominated by oak or beech as well as the great coniferous forests of Russia and Canada and corresponding southern latitudes. The definition also includes the montane forests of the Andes, south east Asia and Africa and the pine forests of India, Pakistan and China.”[30]

The Boreal Forests (Taiga).

“The boreal forests (taiga) .. comprise one-third of the Earth’s forests and cover one-thirteenth of the Earth’s land surface. They are estimated to cover 4.3 million square miles, equivalent to three Europes. Some 70% are in Siberia and 22% in Canada and Alaska, most of the rest being in Scandinavia. Siberia’s sector is three times as large as the Brazilian Amazonia. It contains ..one-fifth of all trees and one quarter of the world’s wood. This means it harbours .. 30 billion tons of carbon, according to Dr. Anthony Scott. We have rough estimates of how much carbon is there. An alternative estimate is that boreal forests harbour around one-sixth of the Earth’s terrestrial carbon above ground and one-fifth of the below ground stock, making a total of more than 400 billion tons. Unlike tropical forests, two-thirds of the biome’s carbon is stored in forest litter and the soil. About half of it is released in the wake of logging ... In addition, logging in permafrost areas causes the frozen ground to melt .. Melting permafrost also releases methane. Dr Vladislav Alexeyev calculates that Siberia’s forests absorb almost 10% of human-made emissions of CO₂. Dr Rosanne d’Arrigo put the total for all boreal forests at a whopping 30%.”[31]

Coastal Temperate Rain Forests.

"Now estimated to cover less than half their original area, coastal temperate rain forests are an exceptionally productive and biologically diverse ecosystem. Coastal temperate rain forests once covered 30-40 million hectares, an area less than 0.3% of the earth's land area. A preliminary study by Ecotrust and Conservation International estimates that at least 55% of the world's coastal temperate rain forest has been logged or cleared for other uses. The remaining area now span about 14 million hectares, smaller than the state of Wisconsin."[32]

1.1.4.2: Current Global Forest Cover.

1.1.4.2.1: Estimates of Global Forest Cover.

There are a number of estimates of the Earth’s current Forest cover - the Earth's land surface covers 13 billion hectares.

Edward I Newman.

Newman estimates that .. “just under a quarter of the world’s land surface is forested.”[33]

Worldwide Fund for Nature.

“One third of the Earth’s total land surface is covered by forests, of which 45% or two billion hectares are tropical.”[34]

Michael Pilarski.

“Estimates (of Forest cover) vary from as high as 10 billon acres (FAO) to under 2 billion (John Todd).”[35]

Caring for the Earth.

"Of the 29 million square kilometres of closed forests, 32% are boreal (subarctic), 26% temperate (in both hemispheres), and 42% tropical. Three-quarters of the open forests and shrubland are in the tropics."[36]; "Forests, wooded grasslands, and shrublands cover 53 million square kilometres or some 40% of the earth's land surface. Forests with closed canopies now cover about 29 million square kilometres, four-fifths of their extent at the beginning of the 18thC."[37]

UN Food and Agricultural Organization.

"According to a UN Food and Agricultural Organization tabulation for 1986, 11% of this - nearly 1.5 billion hectares - is used to produce crops. Roughly 25% is pasture or rangeland, providing grass or other forage for domesticated livestock and wild herbivores. A somewhat larger area (31%) is in forests, including open forests or savannahs only partly covered with trees. The remaining 33% supports little biological activity. It is either wasteland, essentially desert, or has been paved over or built on."[38]

United Kingdom Forests Network.

One of the more useful, discriminating estimates is provided by the ukFn, “There are about 3 billion hectares of closed Forest in the world, a further 700 million hectares of open Forest, 1.7 billion hectares of other wooded area and around 29 million hectares of plantations making a global total of almost 5 billion hectares of forested land.”[39]

It has to be concluded there is no accurate measure of the current scale of the Earth’s Forest cover. This will be possible only when data derived from satellites has been analyzed and collated. The chances of any reliable estimates being provided by those institutions responsible for looking after Forests is negligible.

1.1.4.2.2: The Countries with most Forest Cover.

“Recent FAO data indicate that seventeen countries account for about 75% of the global forest cover, and, of those seventeen, five countries, namely Russia, Brazil, Canada, the US, and Zaire, account for nearly 55%.”[40]; “Latin America possesses 57% of the world’s tropical forests.”[41]; “The forests of Siberia cover more than 5 million square kilometres, the size of the continental United States. They account for over half the world's coniferous forests, and over one-fifth of all forest, being twice as large as the Amazon rainforests.”[42]