Clipping Board » Environmental Pollution & Change ─ How dirty the human heart is, how dirty the environment will be...
Update Date: 2009/02/16 04:09
[Compiled by Zheng Siyin / Comprehensive Report]
American scientists warned on the 14th that due to the faster-than-expected increase in greenhouse gases, rising temperatures are also triggering feedback mechanisms in the global ecosystem. The rate of global warming has even far exceeded the expectations set in 2007. Additionally, the strong advocacy for using biofuels to curb carbon dioxide emissions might have the opposite effect.
Biofuels to Curb Carbon Emissions May Backfire
Field from the Carnegie Institution stated at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on the 14th that since 2000, carbon dioxide emissions have been growing at a rate of 3.5% annually, significantly higher than the 0.9% growth rate in the 1990s, and much faster than the 2007 estimates by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Field, who is also a member of the panel, said that the increase in greenhouse gas emissions is mainly due to higher fuel combustion in developing countries.
The higher-than-expected release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is caused by accelerated natural processes due to feedback loops, with the most notable evidence being the rising temperatures causing the Arctic permafrost to begin melting, releasing hundreds of billions of tons of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.
Field mentioned that out of the trillion tons of carbon dioxide contained in the Arctic permafrost, 10% could be released this century. The melting of permafrost not only releases carbon dioxide but also methane, which has a greenhouse gas content 25 times higher than carbon dioxide.
Moreover, the strong advocacy for using biofuels to curb carbon emissions might even backfire. For example, the increased demand for biofuels has led to an increase in corn cultivation in the United States, meaning that farmland originally used for soybean production must be converted to corn. However, since the demand for soybeans has not decreased, countries like Brazil have increased soybean cultivation to fill the gap. To grow more soybeans, Brazil burns tropical rainforests to create farmland, which in turn leads to more gas emissions.
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 090216/ 78/ 1eiut. html
UN Experts Warn of Accelerating Climate Crisis beyond Expectations
[Compiled by Zheng Siyin / Comprehensive Report]
American scientists warned on the 14th that due to the faster-than-expected increase in greenhouse gases, rising temperatures are also triggering feedback mechanisms in the global ecosystem. The rate of global warming has even far exceeded the expectations set in 2007. Additionally, the strong advocacy for using biofuels to curb carbon dioxide emissions might have the opposite effect.
Biofuels to Curb Carbon Emissions May Backfire
Field from the Carnegie Institution stated at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on the 14th that since 2000, carbon dioxide emissions have been growing at a rate of 3.5% annually, significantly higher than the 0.9% growth rate in the 1990s, and much faster than the 2007 estimates by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Field, who is also a member of the panel, said that the increase in greenhouse gas emissions is mainly due to higher fuel combustion in developing countries.
The higher-than-expected release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is caused by accelerated natural processes due to feedback loops, with the most notable evidence being the rising temperatures causing the Arctic permafrost to begin melting, releasing hundreds of billions of tons of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.
Field mentioned that out of the trillion tons of carbon dioxide contained in the Arctic permafrost, 10% could be released this century. The melting of permafrost not only releases carbon dioxide but also methane, which has a greenhouse gas content 25 times higher than carbon dioxide.
Moreover, the strong advocacy for using biofuels to curb carbon emissions might even backfire. For example, the increased demand for biofuels has led to an increase in corn cultivation in the United States, meaning that farmland originally used for soybean production must be converted to corn. However, since the demand for soybeans has not decreased, countries like Brazil have increased soybean cultivation to fill the gap. To grow more soybeans, Brazil burns tropical rainforests to create farmland, which in turn leads to more gas emissions.
Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 090216/ 78/ 1eiut. html
2009/02/16 11:56