In order to fulfill the Kyoto Agreement, some countries
volunteered to plant more trees, but it turns out that this doesn't
help nearly as much as everyone hoped it would. A new study
shows that forests in the US and other northern mid- and
upper-latitude regions are playing a smaller role in offsetting
global warming than previously thought, but intact tropical
forests are removing an unexpectedly high proportion of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, partially offsetting
carbon entering the air through industrial emissions and
deforestation. The message from all this? We need to
save our
rainforests!
For years, one of the biggest mysteries in climate science has
been the question of what ultimately happens to the carbon
emitted by motor vehicles, factories, deforestation, and other
sources. Of the approximately 8 billion tons of carbon emitted
each year, about 40% accumulates in the atmosphere and
about 30% is absorbed by the oceans. So what happens to
the 30%? Scientists think that forests absorb the rest. But
WHICH
trees?and does planting new ones
work?
Once we find this out, we can take the right kind of action.
Art credit: gimp-savvy.com
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