Forests as giant pumps?

Clouds form over a Central African forest, in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. Photo by Douglas Sheil

A study from the St Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in Russia says vast forests generate winds through vapor pressure differences that help pump water around the planet.

If correct, the theory would explain how forested continents get as much rain inland as they do on the coast, and why Australia with its limited coastal forests has a vast, almost treeless outback.

According to the research, as reported by Mongabay.com, scientists have known for some time that forests recycle rain. Up to half the precipitation falling on a typical tropical rainforest evaporates or transpires from trees. This keeps the air above moist.

But Victor Gorshkov and Anastassia Makarieva of the St Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute are now saying that not only do forests pump moisture into the atmosphere above, they also generate the winds that carry this moisture inland.

According to their theory, when water vapour from coastal forests and oceans condenses to form droplets and clouds, it takes up less atmospheric space, thus lowering the local air pressure. Furthermore, with evaporation being stronger over the forest than over the ocean, the resulting low air pressure sucks in the moist air over the ocean. This causes the winds that carry the moisture further inland.

Although published in 2007, Gorshkov and Makarieva's research is only now beginning to capture the attention of international scientists. Chief among these have been Dr. Doug Sheil, formerly of CIFOR and now with Uganda's Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation, and CIFOR's Dr. Daniel Muridyarso.

In a review of the research How Forests Attract Rain: an examination of a new hypothesis, published in the journal Bioscience, Sheil and Murdiyarso say that the controversial suggestion that forests act as wind pumps needs to be given serious consideration.

"Conventional models typically predict a 20 to 30 per cent decline in rainfall after deforestation," Sheil says. "Makarieva and Gorshkov suggest even localised clearing might ultimately switch entire continental climates from wet to arid, with rainfall declining by more than 95 per cent."
According to Sheil, science is still unable to fully and clearly explain how the lowlands in continental interiors maintain wet climates. Gorshkov and Makarieva's suggestion that forests serve as "biotic pumps" may provide science with the missing answer.

Sheil describes the Russians' findings as "a most profound insight into the impact of forest loss on climate. They will transform how we view forest loss, climate change and hydrology."

Co-author, Daniel Murdiyarso, adds, “This is a new way of looking at the co-lateral benefits provided by forests when they are left standing. It’s particularly relevant to the current global focus on promoting the carbon market through REDD” (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation).

Murdiyarso says that the findings would trigger further debates on the way the traditional wisdoms and public policy-making are linked with the roles of remaining forests in the tropics.

References:

Sheil D., and Murdiyarso, D. (2009) How forests attract rain: an examination of a new hypothesis. Bioscience. 59: 341–347

Makarieva AM,GorshkovVG. 2007. Biotic pump of atmospheric moisture as driver of the hydrological cycle on land.Hydrology and Earth System

Sciences 11: 1013-1033 (in English)

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0401-ance_revolutionarytheory.html

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227024.400-rainforests-may-pump-winds-worldwide.html?full=true

http://www.aibs.org/bioscience/current_issue.html

How decision makers can plan for climate uncertainty

Greenhouse-gas emissions in Costa Rica. Photo by Bruno Locatelli

Predicting how the world will change as it warms is filled with uncertainty. For example, tropical rainforests could either become hotter and drier or hotter and wetter—it all depends on which climate model you consult.

Despite the uncertainties, decision makers must plan ahead and prepare for potential changes in rainfall and temperature. A new CIFOR publication, Climate scenarios: What we need to know and how to generate them, can help policy makers and non-climate specialists understand how climatic scenarios are constructed. The authors hope the information will help governments design policies that take into account a range of potential climatic changes.

The biggest challenge for policy makers is planning for an uncertain future, says CIFOR scientist Heru Santoso, one of the authors.

‘We have written a report which explains in straightforward terms the questions people outside the scientific community most commonly ask,’ Santoso says. ‘Given that there are so many factors to consider, we can offer no single and definitive answer about how the world will change. This can be incredibly daunting for people charged with the responsibility of designing policies. It can even deter them from taking the initiative in order to prepare for the future.’

According to the report, scientists are usually the first to admit that predicting future climatic patterns is difficult. This is partly because greenhouse-gas emissions, which cause global warming, are influenced by a range of factors—changes in population growth, fossil fuel usage, clean technology research and national and international climate-change polices.

Santoso says scenarios for tropical rainforests in Asia are particularly problematic.

‘In this region, tropical storms and cloud formation are difficult to model,’ he says. ‘In many of the island nations, such as Indonesia, scenarios are further complicated by changes in sea temperature which also affect the climate.’

CIFOR’s lead scientist on climate change adaptation, Bruno Locatelli, says we can see more clearly what the future may hold in some other regions. For example, there is a growing consensus that the Amazon rainforest is likely to be much drier.

Locatelli says the publication will help people understand the key to developing appropriate adaptation plans is flexibility. He says information derived from a range of models should guide the design of robust policies that work under different sets of climatic conditions.

‘We want people who are developing adaptation plans, both at national and local levels, to understand the basics of climate modeling when they need it. We also recognise climate scenarios are not always needed for planning adaptation. Addressing the current vulnerability of people is a good start that will facilitate the adaptation to the future climate,’ says Locatelli.

Heru Santoso says that comprehensive adaptation plans are definitely a challenge; climatic scenarios can also be useful when developing more specific infrastructure projects and in managing resource allocation. For instance, planning for hydroelectric dams or long-rotation tree plantations needs to take into account how the environment may change. The profitability and efficiency of these projects may be affected by climate changes.

Santoso also warns that designing adaption policies should not be seen as a task for the future.

‘Governments need to start acting now,’ Santoso says. ‘Much can be done at this very moment to reduce people’s vulnerability. We are already witnessing more floods and more forest fires throughout the world and we need to help protect people exposed to environmental disasters.’

= = = =

CIFOR Working Paper No. 45
Climate Scenarios: What we need to know and how to generate them
Authors: Heru Santoso, Monica Idinoba and Pablo Imbach
December 2008, CIFOR
Available at: http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/Publications/Detail?pid=2766

Healthy Lifestyles, Global Warming - Industry Shift Changes Coming

By Derek Dashwood

To watch the numbers tick on the World Clock, it seems that healthy lifestyles continue to be coming to an end and now we can see. We can count off each second to the tenth power how much the temperature of the earth is increasing. This information from the United Nations, which is gathering information from every weather station on earth mostly now all on line. So we know when the seas will begin to turn all us coastal folks into members of the I love Venice club, and open our gondola concessions.

But that doesn't solve the problem of all those jets in the sky, that the numbers will double and double again. Soon each rich new Chinese will want to see Paris again. Dear gasping mother earth says take the train, not the plane. So here is our blue pie in the sky vision, we present this to you. If you agree, send a message or three, jets are fueled by kerosine, which is that trail up there that spittles on you and me. So each day you get home, and have been out for a stroll, if the day has been cloudy it may be a jet roll. so have a good shower when you get to home, and light not a candle to your kerosine dome.

Your hair is sprinkled with stardust so kerosine pure, or dirty to be honest, and that is for sure. So here is a plan, that the Economist ran. Sprinkle the globe, with a high tech railroad, under the sea between Siberia to we, and work on your project serene, while the transport gets you from Rio to Rome, or Moscow or Nome, London to Cairo, Johannesburg, up to Istanbul, then zip on back home. Look at a map, and imagine who might object. And work with those factors, and we have a fast track.

China has begun, at which France and Japan have excelled, to fast track trains rather than freeways, which America and Britain have tried. If China chooses the Anglo American vision on this and builds freeways for one billion cars, while they extend their coal burning plants, we will all soon live in a hellish gray skied hot place, in which we all become sicker. China privately admits it is losing perhaps ten percent of it's productivity on sickness and lost time, and this is climbing, as is the global clock temperature chart.

The route is here. Or do we want to be noble, blind, so full of our manifest destiny and sense of being chosen, or that our jihad is more holy than your crusade, or that your ancestry in north Ireland creates in me a need to kill, to revenge that bloody hand. My father did extensive genealogy of our family, nobles, buffoons, and arrogant fools. I had an Irish American mother, but my English Canadian father once told me we were entitled to have in our English coat of arms the bloody hand of English in north Ireland.

I had to ask. It seems that when King James offered that northern quarter of Ireland to which ever English could put their hand on the soil first. And, speaking of fanatics, apparently we have in our blood that one ancestor of mine saw another boat was beating to the beach, he chopped off one hand and threw with great force, and it did land on the beach, which now made it his, and he was in charge. King's Han Chinese hall monitors rules. To you, King James, from both my Irish heart and even my English soul, you should not have made such an intrusive, arrogant law.

And if we need to take a boat to Dublin, or even a non jet clean aircraft from Dublin to London, some how some more English and Moors and Christians and Jews and and blacks in south Africa could at least visit by train. Which would be a healthy change, and mighty refrain. Blue skies, nothing but blue skies, all day long. Is not possible. New coal plants to build. New jets to fly and spray us, coal in our lungs, kerosine in our hair. Do you have sum ting against progress, you did all this, we can too. Oh, where is that train, convert dear Boeing and we can soon tram to Spain. And that is my refrain, I will say again and again.

Can Home Solar Energy Systems Save The Planet

By Koz Huseyin

First off, the planet does not need saving, but we need to save ourselves. The Earth has been here a lot longer. Yes, we are doing damage, but the result could be the Earth wiping us out, and not the other way around. The question still comes can we do our bit, and use home solar energy systems to create more balance?

It may be bold statements, however, the fact remains, and the Earth has been here a lot longer than us. It has gone through having reptiles as big as houses, and has also had an impact which made our Moon, and also an impact which killed off the dinosaurs. Through all these the life on Earth changed, but the Earth remained.

So, what is the issue, and what has home solar energy systems got to do with this equation. Now, with all these statements, they are my own beliefs and do not necessarily mean how it is. The issue more important is the damage we are doing to life on Earth.

In the UK around the 1950's, was smoggy. This smog was difficult for people. Life continued, but there had to be changes. We just could not pump out all our rubbish into the air; we had to change to make things cleaner, and more conscious of the effects of our causes.

Power around the world, and I mean energy, as in electricity, is generated mainly by fossil fuels. We use it in the car, and is what is behind what happens when you have lighting in your home. This fossil fuel is powering your monitor right now! The smoke that was produced to make that fuel can not be seen and is effecting the natural balance in the world.

If you consider blowing smoke into a cup, and turning it over on the table, you will find that the smoke remains. The world is such a place. Everything is contained within, so unless it gets into the ground or sea, it will be in the air. Trees are what keep a lot of the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Home solar power systems are a solution to our problems. With home solar energy systems, you can cut out a lot of your footprint. Every year your household is part of the cause of that problem. The only way we can break out of that cycle, and learn as was done in the UK, one by one, we will provide a more balanced environment.

Getting residential solar energy systems for the home is possible only in relatively sunny countries. So, getting home solar power systems for your home is unlikely in the UK or other countries that don't get the full strength of the Sun.

Residential solar energy systems don't just have to be in the form of generating electricity for your home. In the East there are many countries that utilize the power of the Sun to heat up water. On top of houses, you will find the heating system that has water pumping through, getting the full amplified heat of the Sun. The result is that you have hot boiling water, almost for free, when you exclude the buying the solar water heating system.

You can make a difference. The benefits are immense, and there is much power in generating your own power to power your home. You get constant power for free, there are no brownouts and you can also resell your excess electric to the electricity companies!

Perdagangan Karbon Bisa Membantu Indonesia Melindungi Hutan

By nias on February 8, 2008

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) — Perdagangan karbon kemungkinan akan diterapkan pertama kalinya untuk menolong desa-desa di Indonesia untuk melestarikan hutan sebagai bagian dari usaha global untuk menghentikan deforestasi yang mempercepat perubahan iklim.

Dalam suatu rencana yang akan diumumkan hari ini (Kamis, 7 Februari) untuk menyelamatkan hutan Ulu Masen di Provinsi Aceh, Indonesia, sekitar $26 juta pendapatan dari penjualan kredit karbon akan diberikan pada desa-desa untuk menghentikan penebangan pohon-pohon. Usulan tersebut bergantung pada penjualan kredit-kredit kepada perusahaan-perusahaan dan perorangan yang ingin mengofset emisi dan memperbaiki reputasi lingkungan mereka. Kredit-kredit itu berharga $4 hingga $8 untuk setiap ton pengurangan pencemaran.

Belum ada kesepakatan internasional untuk menghargai negara-negara berkembang dalam usaha mereka menghentikan pembakaran hutan yang menyumbangkan sekitar 20 persen terhadap emisi pemanasan global, kata John-O Niles, pejabat kebijakan dan ilmiah untuk Carbon Conservation, sponsor dari projek itu. Projek Ulu Maen ini, yang akan mengurangi emisi sebesar 100 juta ton selama 30 tahun, mungkin bisa meyakinkan para pengkritik bahwa menyelamatkan hutan bisa memperlambat pemanasan global, kata Niles.

“Ada manfaat yang besar bagi komunitas global dan atmosfir untuk mempertahankan hutan yang ada,” kata Halldor Thorgeirsson, kepala perdagangan emsisi UN FCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) dalam suatu wawancara. “Adalah penting bahwa nilai usaha itu ditransfer kepada orang-orang yang membuat keputusan di lapangan.”

Rencana pelestarian Ulu Masen akan mengurangi emisi setara dengan keluaran gas rumah kaca Meksiko, kata Niles. Ini merupakan projek pertama yang menghindari deforestasi yang memenuhi standar yang ditetapkan oleh Arlington, yaitu Aliansi Keaneragaman Hayati, Komunitas dan Iklim yang berpangkalan di Virginia, untuk menjamin kerdit-kredit karbon yang dapat diperdagangkan.

Konversi Energi
Pohon-pohon menyimpan karbon dioksida yang digunakan untuk mengubah energi cahaya menjadi energi kimia. Menurut PBB, deforestasi merupakan sumber emisi karbon terbesar ketiga setelah pemakaian bahan bakar fosil dan operasi industri.

Mengurangi emisi dengan menyelamatkan hutan merupakan sebuah prioritas pada konferensi Bali bulan Desember 2007. Bank Dunia telah meluncurkan program pendanaan untuk menolong negara-negara berkembang memantau pengurangan emisi dan memasarkan emisi itu, kata Werner Kornexl, spesialis teknis senior Bank Dunia.

“Yang kami ingin lakukan dalam kemitraan ini adalah mematok langkah-langkah untuk permintaan pasar yang lebih besar,” kata Kornexl. “Ada minat luas untuk ini.”

Minat terhadap kredit dari projek seperti Ulun Masen ini tergantung pada standar-standar yang “menjamin bahwa aksi sungguh-sungguh nyata,” kata Elliot Diringer, direktur strategis internasional pada Pew Center on Global Climate Change, yang berpusat di Virginia.

‘Aksi Lebih Nyata’
“Hutan merupakan sumber besar emisi dan ada hasrat negara-negara yang memiliki hutna tropis untuk melakukan aksi yang lebih nyata,” kata Diringer.

Projek Ulu Masen disertifikasi oleh Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance yang melibatkan NGO seperti The Nature Conservancy dan the Rainforest Alliance, dan perusahaan seperti Weyerhaeuser Co. Sertifikasi ini mengisyaratkan bahwa projek tersebut “sangat mungkin” menghasilkan kredit-kredit mulai pada tahun 2009, kata Niles.

Para sponsor berharap mengurangi logging sebesar 85% di Ulu Masen, yang akan menghasilkan kredit 3.3 juta ton karbon per tahun, kata Niles. Pada harga projeksi sebesar $5 per ton, kredit akan menghasilkan $16.5 juta.

Desa-desa lokal akan menerima pembayaran kalau mereka bisa membuktikan bahwa pohon-pohon mereka belum ditebang. Kemajuan akan dipantau di lapangan oleh penjaga hutan dan dari udara melalui citra satelit. Pembayaran akan mencapai $26 juta selama lima tahun pertama.

Risiko Investor
“Pembayaran ini didasarkan atas capaian,” kata Durbin. Sertifikasi pada standar-standar aliansi juga menjamin keuntungan komunitas dan keanekaragaman hayati, seperti menjaga habitat binatang liar dan pasokan air besih, kata Duncan Marsh, direktur kebijakan iklim internasional pada the Arlington-based Nature Conservancy. Hutan Ulu Masen merupakan tempat tinggal gajah Sumatra, harimau sumatera, orang hutam, dan clouded leopard.

“Aspek masyarakat dan keanekaragaman hayati merupakan daya tarik penting pagi para investor,” kata Masrh.

Investor akan fokus pada risiko, kata Marsh. Kredit-kredit untuk menghentikan deforestasi tidak bisa digunakan oleh perusahaan-perusahaan untuk memenuhi target polusi di bawah program gas rumah kacan Uni Eropa atau oleh negara-negara di bawah Protokol Kyoto, persetujuan internasional untuk membatasi gas-gas pemasanan global.

‘Tidak Ada Jaminan’
“Jika modal yang mereka tanam sekarang cocok untuk kredit dalam peraturan kepatuhan yang disepakati di masa depan, maka kredit-kredit akan lebih berharga lagi,” kata Marsh. “Tidak ada jaminan hal itu akan terjadi dan kredit-kredit itu mungkin akan terus memiliki nilai yang ditentukan oleh pasar bebas.”

Kredit-kredit karbon dari lahan energi angin dan energi surya yang diterima dalam program Eropa dan di bawah pakta Kyoto berharga 14.25 euro ($21.09) pada tanggal 5 Februari di pasar saham Nord Pool ASA di Lysaker, Norwegia. Perdagangan kredit dari projek-projek seperti Ulu Masen masih kecil, kata Jason Patrick, direktur pelayanan gas rumah kaca untuk broker kredit Evolution Market.

“Kita melihat evolusi lambat dari pandangan bahwa deforestasi tidak mungkin dihindari ke pandangan bahwa penghindaran deforestasi bisa menjadi bagian dari sistem kepatuhan,” kata Patrick. Kini kita menyaksikan “aktivitas spekulatif dalam projek-projek yang melibatkan pengihindaran deforestasi dengan harapan bahwa di masa depan akan ada semacam sistem kepatuhan yang harus diikuti.” (Situs Blooberg.com - Jim Efstathiou Jr.)

Use of Air Conditioners and the Greenhouse Effect

Autor: rsbombard

As the average temperature of the planet rises every year we also have started using the air conditioner more. The result is that we are heating up the environment even more. What happens is, whenever we turn on the air conditioner, it releases carbon into the air. And carbon has been identified as the element that insulates our planet and is a major contributor in global warming.

And if we are to believe recent studies, the worse is yet to come. Actually we have got into this vicious loop where the hotter it gets, the more of air conditioning we use, and consequently the earth gets even hotter.

If we look at the figures, we can understand that the average world temperature of the Earth has increased by 1 degree Fahrenheit in just the last century. Though it might sound minimal, it is actually a remarkable change. Scientists believe that much of this global warming can be attributed to the release of carbon dioxide and other green house gases which are released when we burn the conventional fossil fuels. What is being predicted is that the practice will continue for the coming years and it will only increase with time.

Compared to most other electric devices, the air conditioner consumes much more energy. So to keep the air conditioners running a lot of fossil fuels need to be used. Whenever you have your air conditioner working at full blast you should realize that you are contributing in your own way to the global warming.

If we account for all the power consumed by air conditioners alone across the country it would be something around half percent of the total energy that is used in by the United States. This seems a rather small figure. However, the problem is even half percent can make a serious contribution to the phenomenon of global warming.

Another problem is that the consumption of energy and hence the release of the greenhouse gases are not the same all over the country. So, particular areas are more affected than the rest.

Till the day we can use alternative forms of energy in a wide scale, turning on the air conditioner will always mean that the earth will be affected. The only way to limit the damage is by using high energy efficient air conditioners which require less power to run, and to keep the use of the air conditioners to the minimum level possible.

Warming Of The Arctic

Autor: Gordon_petten :: Views: 205 :: Send to Your Friends :: View PDF :: Print View

Science Daily has published The Arctic is warming much more rapidly than previously known, at nearly twice the rate as the rest of the globe, and increasing greenhouse gases from human activities are projected to make it warmer still, according to the findings of a 300-strong team of international scientists.

At the rate global warming is going, the Arctic is predicted to lose half of its summer ice as the century closes when temperature is projected to rise by another 4 to 7 degrees Celsius by year 2100. This melting is to include a sizeable section of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Major global impacts will be continued rise in sea-level and intensifying global warming, as per the final report of the ACIA or the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. The exercise was ordered by the Arctic Council, an executive body composed of the 8 eArctic nations, 6 indigenous POs or Peoples Organizations, and the IASC or the International Arctic Science Committee. The latter is a worldwide organization appointed by 18 national science institutes.

The assessment's report was first broadcast in detail at a symposium in Reykjavik, Iceland in November 9 to 12, 2004. ACIA's data were based on an average estimate of emissions of CO2 and other gases that aggravate the greenhouse effect in the years to come. The report also integrates results from 5 major climate simulations done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC.

As Robert Corell, ACIA Chair mused, people in the Arctic are feelng the impacts of global warming as the Arctic is now seeing the fastest and extremely serious climate change. These are predicted to increase even more as the years roll by.

Here are some of the findings:

In the past 50 years, winter temperatures in Alaska, Western Canada and Eastern Russia have registered an increase of as much as 3 to 4 degrees Celsius. And in the next century, temperatures are projected to increase by

4 7 degrees Celsius or 7 13 degrees Fahrenheit.

As mentioned earlier, summer sea ice in the Arctic is seen to drop by 50% at the turn of the century. There is even a prediction of its almost complete disappearance which can kill ice living seals. This will prove too much for the indigenous peoples of the region. who depend on these animals for food.

Global warming increases melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, increasing the rates at which sea levels rise. In the long run, Greenland will hold enough melted ice that sea level could rise to as much as 7 meters or 23 feet. The coastal towns around the Arctic now face the risk of erosion and flooding because of this.

The possibility of the extinction of some species of seals and polar bears is very evident.

Health and food security of the natives are also areas that can be affected. This poses a challenge on the other tribe's culture.

The Assessment has reported that many of the projected physical, ecological, social and economic changes have already commenced. A major goal of the ACIA is to determine variability of ultra violet radiation and its impact on society.

For the study, the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, hosted the ACIA Secretariat at was hosted at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Funding for the Secretariat was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.