Dead wood provides clues to climate change

An academic from Guangdong Province with a forest of ideas in a number of branches of science certainly cannot be accused of being unable to see the wood for the trees.

Li Pingri, 75, a geographer from Guangdong Academy of Sciences, believes that clues to the pattern of global climate change can be found in ancient trees.

"My long-term research on ancient trees found that the increasingly hot global climate is a result not only of the greenhouse effect, but also the cyclical order of nature," Li told China Daily.

"Through the study of ancient trees, I discovered the temperature throughout history has risen and fallen in a rough but regular way, in a cycle of about 400 years," Li said.

According to his theory, the global temperature will climb to a peak in 2100, and then decrease. The coldest temperatures will be experienced in approximately 2300.

Li based his research on the study of tree rings.

"Thin rings show the climate in those years was tougher, colder and drier, and thick ones mean the trees were living in more favourable natural conditions."

Li cites the presence of idesia polycarpa in the province at one time, a tree that is now common on the Korean Peninsular, as one example of climate change.

The academic was speaking at Dongguan's Guanyin Mountain Old Tree Museum, which has a collection of 47 ancient trees.

Last month the museum was awarded a prize for its contribution to science popularization in the province.

"The museum has recorded the name, time of death, climate around the year of death, and other information," Li said.

"The oldest tree stored in the museum died 4,420 years ago."

"However, the amount of trees in the museum is far short of what we need," Li said.

He said he wanted to create a database recording the trees that died in each century.

Source: China Daily