Home / Environment / Opinions Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
Climate change speeds up Amazon's destruction
Adjust font size:
A vicious cycle of climate change and deforestation could wipe out or severely damage nearly 60 percent of the Amazon forest by 2030, said the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) at a press conference held at the Bali International Convention center on Thursday.

From now to 2030, deforestation in the Amazon could release 55. 5 to 96.9 billion tons of CO2. At the upper end this is more than two years of global greenhouse gas emission, said Dan Nepstad, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts, at the press conference.

In addition, the destruction of the Amazon would also do away with one of the key stabilizers of the global climate system, he said.

"The importance of the Amazon forest for the globe's climate cannot be underplayed," said Dan Nepstad, who is also the author of a new WWF report titled the Amazon's Vicious Cycles: Drought and Fire in the Greenhouse, which reveals the dramatic consequences for the local and global climate as well as the impacts on people's livelihoods in South America.

"It's not only essential for cooling the world's temperature but also such a large source of freshwater that it may be enough to influence some of the great ocean currents, and on top of that it's a massive store of carbon," he said.

He added that current trends in agriculture and livestock expansion, fire, drought and logging could clear or severely damage 55 percent of the Amazon rainforest by 2030. If, as anticipated by scientists, rainfall declines 10 percent in the future, then an additional 4 percent of the forests will be damaged by drought.

Global warming is in fact likely to reduce rainfall in the Amazon by more than 20 percent, especially in the eastern Amazon, and local temperatures will increase by more than 2 degrees centigrade, and perhaps by as much as 8 degrees centigrade, during the second half of the century, according to the report.

With further destruction of the Amazon forests, less rainfall in India and Central America is anticipated, as would rainfall during the growing season in the grain belts of the United States and Brazil, the scientist said.

He called for strategies to halt deforestation in the Amazon, include minimizing the negative impacts from cattle ranching and infrastructure projects to rapidly expanding the existing network of protected areas.

"We can still stop the destruction of the Amazon, but we need the support of the rich countries," said Karen Suassuna, a climate change analyst at WWF-Brazil, at the press conference. "Our success in protecting the Amazon depends on how fast rich countries reduce their climate damaging emissions to slow down global warming."

Climate change is initiating and speeding up the vicious circle. Today, carbon from forest conversion to cattle pastures and agriculture in the Brazilian Amazon is seeping into the atmosphere at a rate of 0.2 to 0.3 billion tons per year. This number can double when severe drought increases forest fires. Emissions from all Amazon countries are doubling the figures for Brazil.

"The Kyoto Plus climate agreement must include measures to reduce emissions from forests," said Hans Verolme, director of the WWF's Global Climate Change Program.

"A failure to protect the Amazon forest will not only be a disaster for millions of people who live in the Amazon region, but also for the stability of the world climate," he warned.

Established in 1961, the WWF operates in more than 100 countries working for a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.
?
(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2007)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous

China Archives
Related >>
- Climate change conference poised for breakthrough
- China, EU sign joint statement to face climate change
- Climate change may wipe some Indonesian islands off map
- UN official hails China for efforts in saving forest
Most Viewed >>
Air Quality 
Cities Major Pollutant Air Quality Level
Beijing particulate matter II
Shanghai particulate matter III1
Guangzhou sulfur dioxide II
Chongqing particulate matter III2
Xi'an particulate matter III1
Most Read
- White paper on energy
- Endangered monkeys grow in number
- Yangtze River's Three Gorges 2 mln years in the making
- The authorities sets sights on polluted soil
- China, US benefit from clean energy
NGO Events Calendar Tips
- Hand in hand to protect endangered animals and plants
- Changchun, Mini-marathon Aimed at Protecting Siberian Tiger
- Water Walk by Nature University
- Green Earth Documentary Salon
- Prof. Maria E. Fernandez to Give a Lecture on Climate Change
More
Archives
UN meets on climate change
The UN Climate Change Conference brought together representatives of over 180 countries and observers from various organizations.
Panda Facts
A record 28 panda cubs born via artificial insemination have survived in 2006.
South China Karst
Rich and unique karst landforms located in south China display exceptional natural beauty.
Saving the Tibetan Antelopes
The rare animals survive in the harsh natural environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
More
Laws & Regulations
- Forestry Law of the People's Republic of China
- Meteorology Law of the People's Republic of China
- Fire Control Law of the People's Republic of China
- Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters
- Law of the People's Republic of China on Conserving Energy
More
Links:
State Environmental Protection Administration
Ministry of Water Resources
Ministry of Land and Resources
China Environmental Industry Network
Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base
主站蜘蛛池模板: 99国产欧美久久久精品蜜芽| 久久人人爽人人爽人人av东京热| 窝窝午夜看片七次郎青草视频| 国产一级毛片国语普通话对白| 久久国产真实乱对白| 欧美亚洲国产片在线播放| 国产一区二区三区影院| 国产真实乱xxxav| 国产精品扒开腿做爽爽爽的视频| 99精品国产在热久久| 婷婷六月久久综合丁香76| 中文字幕日本最新乱码视频 | 18美女私密尿口视频| 在线免费观看污污视频| 久久久久亚洲av无码去区首| 权明星商标查询| 伊人色综合九久久天天蜜桃| 精品深夜av无码一区二区老年 | 色综合合久久天天给综看| mm1313亚洲国产精品无码试看| 古代肉多荤话文高h| 怡红院成人影院| 在线观看一级毛片免费| 三个人躁我一个| 成年性羞羞视频免费观看无限| 国产在线高清精品二区| 1000部免费啪啪十八未年禁止观看 | 麻豆md传媒md00中国| 国产欧美日韩视频在线观看| 窝窝午夜看片七次郎青草视频| 国产高清在线精品一区| 99久久综合狠狠综合久久| 天天躁狠狠躁狠狠躁性色av| 一个人免费观看视频在线中文 | 久久精品日日躁精品| 村上凉子丰满禁断五十路| 亚洲国产一区二区a毛片| 欧美大屁股xxxx| 北条麻妃在线一区二区| 老司机永久免费视频| 国产一级视频播放|