14 DAY TRIAL // According to a paper recently published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters, there is one very simple way to help forests that have been affected by acid rains recover. Not to beat about the bush, it appears that adding calcium to soils might just do the trick.
Researchers explain that, just like humans need this chemical compound in order to keep their teeth and bones healthy, trees need it in order to grow.
According to Tree Hugger, experiments carried out in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire have shown that acid rains deplete soils of calcium.
Therefore, whatever forest damage is linked to them can be reversed simply by introducing more of this soft gray, alkaline earth metal into the environment.
“It is generally accepted that acid rain harms trees, but the value of our study is that it proves the causal link between the chronic loss of soil calcium caused by decades of acid rain and its impact on tree growth,” study co-author Charles Driscoll Jr. argues.
The researchers have already used calcium to help forests in said area recover, and their endeavor turned out to be quite a success.
“The trees in the calcium-treated watershed were able to recover faster from a severe ice storm that hit the region in 1998. This was restoration, not fertilization. We were only replacing what was lost,” Professor John Battles at the University of California, Berkeley says.
In light of these findings, the researchers recommend that high officials worldwide look into the possibility of using calcium to help national forests recover.