What are so many Canadians duped by this graphic?
This graphic gets several things wrong. First it assumes that Canadian forests are a CO2 sink. But in fact they have been a CO2 source for several years (in other words they are emitting more CO2 than they absorb). The data to support this is publicly available: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests/report/disturbance/16552 More obvious is the fact the graphic also assumes a misunderstanding of how the carbon cycle and emission reporting works. The graphic claims that Canada produces 559 Mt of CO2 (the actual number is closer to 700) but the number reported for CO2 emissions is not the total CO2 released in Canada. It is just the amount from post-industrial sources. Animals (including humans) all release CO2 as part of natural processes. These are not counted in the emissions reporting because they have no affect on global warming. They have no affect because the CO2 is absorbed by plants (including Canada's boreal forests). During per-indus