On Monday I was driving out to Port Chalmers. Ahead of me were two logging trucks laden with big trees, and behind me there was another one. Surrounding me then, were several hundred cubic metres of wood headed off shore for some overseas destination! There are thousands upon thousands of square metres of wood going overseas. Those trees were grown in NZ soil, so the wood consists of nutrients taken out of NZ soil. I also know that there are thousands upon thousands of meat carcasses headed overseas. Those sheep were grazed on NZ paddocks, on grass that grew sucking up nutrients from NZ soil.
My question for any scientific thinkers out there is; Given that with each tree or each sheep carcass there are parts of the New Zealand land mass (i.e. nutrients out of the soil) going off shore, and there are heaps of these things exported every year, year after year, is the total land mass of New Zealand getting smaller? In algebraic terms; If the land mass of New Zealand equals "y" cubic metres. If the soil nutrients in the wood or meat leaving our shores each year equals "a" cubic metres. Then it would be logical to assume that at the end of one year's exporting the equation would look like this.... y - a = x with "x" being the depleted land mass of New Zealand!
Is my country getting smaller? Why or why not? I have asked lots of people this question and have not heard a satisfactory answer. Can anybody tell me? Am I living on a disappearing land mass?
1 comment:
Unfortunatly I don't have the answer for you, your logic is great though, quite disapointed that nobody (at least tried) to answer.
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