RE: Even if theism is a failure, it's still superior to atheism
November 20, 2022 at 8:56 pm
(This post was last modified: November 20, 2022 at 8:56 pm by Anomalocaris.)
(November 20, 2022 at 7:52 pm)Jehanne Wrote:(November 20, 2022 at 7:38 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote: I imagine the amount of water the tree’s roots have to draw to pump up the trunk at any instance would affect the immediate height of the tree by considerably more than one micrometer.
Considering the shape of the earth is not exactly at large scale hydrostatic equilibrium thanks to stiffness or viscosity of the earth and lunar tides, the variation in gravitational forces acting on the tree due to lunar tide probably affect the height of the tree by more than one micrometer.
The concentration of CO2 to sustain the tree would need to be factored in, also. Big trees need more CO2.
I think the ultimate limit on the height of vascular plants is the effect of gravity and viscosity on the ability of the plant to draw water up to the top. At certain height the vascular plant can pump the water up no further, so any tissue above that will height will dry out and die. This sets a limit on the maximum feasible height for any tree at a level largely independent of CO2 content. This height is believed to be between 120-140 meters. This seems to be borne out by fossil evidence, which suggest longest trees trunks are all about 100-120 meters long over the last 300 million years despite large swings in CO2 content of the atmophere.