An analysis of satellite imagery of the Gulf Coast shows that Hurricane Katrina destroyed an estimated 320 million trees in Mississippi and Louisiana, an unprecedented loss of forestland that will reshape the region for generations, Louisiana researchers reported today.
The death of the trees from wind damage and soaking in saltwater will ultimately release about 367 million tons of carbon dioxide as they decompose -- about the same amount that is absorbed by all U.S. forests in a year, according to the study published in the journal Science.
Considered on the vast scale of global climate change, Katrina's impact is small. But as a one-time event, its infusion of carbon is significant, exceeding an entire season's worth of emissions from U.S. forest fires.
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