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Forests Contain 3 Times More Carbon Than Previously Thought
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by Vinny | August 5, 2008 at 09:04 am
540 views | 29 Recommendations | 16 comments
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SYDNEY (AFP) - Clearing natural forests in Australia would pose a greater danger to the global climate than previously thought because they hold three times as much carbon as estimated, a report released Tuesday said. The Australian National University report warns that all nations, not just those in the developing world, should prevent the clearing of their forests because this could release huge amounts of harmful carbon into the atmosphere.
Protecting the carbon in Australia's and the world's natural forests is no longer an option -- it is a necessity," report co-author Professor Brendan Mackey said. "If natural forests continue to be cleared and degraded then the carbon dioxide released will significantly increase concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere." The scientists found that unlogged natural eucalypt forests in Australia's southeast stored about 640 tonnes of carbon per hectare. That compares with the 217 tonnes per hectare estimated by the world's leading scientific body on the issue, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In some areas, the storage levels are estimated to be ten times higher than previously thought.
SYDNEY, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Untouched natural forests store three times more carbon dioxide than previously estimated and 60 percent more than plantation forests, said a new Australian study of "green carbon" and its role in climate change. Green carbon occurs in natural forests, brown carbon is found in industrialised forests or plantations, grey carbon in fossil fuels and blue carbon in oceans. Australian National University (ANU) scientists said that the role of untouched forests, and their biomass of green carbon, had been underestimated in the fight against global warming.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (16)
at 09:09 on August 5th, 2008
Vinny, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 09:17 on August 5th, 2008
Thanks Paschen, the findings in the report are not good news for the environment.
at 09:19 on August 5th, 2008
No, not to good at all and I fear more is to follow!
at 11:06 on August 5th, 2008
CO2 is .3 of "greenhouse gasses". Only ignorant people think we can have a major effect on climate! Opps sorry! I had big limas for dinner!
at 12:41 on August 5th, 2008
Vinny, I like this story. It's good stuff.
I knew it! Trees are the "root" of global warming!
at 12:49 on August 5th, 2008
Thanks eastvanray, are you sure you are not barking up the wrong tree!
at 14:36 on August 5th, 2008
Vinny, I like this story. It's good stuff.
This is puzzling news to be honest.
at 14:48 on August 5th, 2008
Thanks Amy, it is puzzling that this report has found such a massive difference in carbon levels compared to earlier studies.
at 16:55 on August 5th, 2008
Vinny, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 17:14 on August 5th, 2008
Thanks for the flags Luiz and PEP.
at 17:44 on August 5th, 2008
Vinny, I like this story. It's definitely not good news.
at 17:50 on August 5th, 2008
Thanks Tiha, I think you could be right it's not good news.
at 22:14 on August 5th, 2008
Eye took these from a two-seater ultralight while flying over my backyard. It took over ten years to protect most of the old growth sections of this forest from rampant logging.
Now that the Dunggirr (koala in the Gumbaynggirr dialect) National Park is linked to the much larger New England it has a chance of surviving.
Legions of unsung dreadlocked ferals and dedicated hippies were responsible for saving much of Australia's remnant rainforests and other forest.
Until they chained themselves to 'dozers and received criminal records for life he logging went ahead without any fauna or flora surveys.
Independent surveys by interested members of the public found SCORES of threatened, endangered, unknown and officially extinct species in places that were about to be decimated - and then burned.
Think globally, ACT locally - but get out there and DO IT! Ecosystems are only really saved by bods on the ground, regardless of how good the science is.
ring wood has contributed a photo to this story.
at 09:25 on August 6th, 2008
Sounds like your forestry practices need a little modernization. Here in Canada we do not cut anything down without surveys first. Forestry is a major indusrty where I live (British Columbia) and we have learned not to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. I hope your forestry companies learn the lesson before you have no trees left.
at 22:16 on August 5th, 2008
Eye took these from a two-seater ultralight while flying over my backyard. It took over ten years to protect most of the old growth sections of this forest from rampant logging.
Now that the Dunggirr (koala in the Gumbaynggirr dialect) National Park is linked to the much larger New England it has a chance of surviving.
Legions of unsung dreadlocked ferals and dedicated hippies were responsible for saving much of Australia's remnant rainforests and other forest.
Until they chained themselves to 'dozers and received criminal records for life he logging went ahead without any fauna or flora surveys.
Independent surveys by interested members of the public found SCORES of threatened, endangered, unknown and officially extinct species in places that were about to be decimated - and then burned.
Think globally, ACT locally - but get out there and DO IT! Ecosystems are only really saved by bods on the ground, regardless of how good the science is.
See http://hermetic.blog.com
http://www.geocities.com/r_ayana
and
http://newilluminati.blog-city.com
at 15:15 on August 6th, 2008
Wild country in Oz (Australia) is home to a huge variety of life...often threatened by loss of habitate. We need to preserve these wild places for us and future generations...
Raja Daja has contributed a photo to this story.