Forest may exacerbate greenhouse effect

Common understanding : forest could reduce the impact of climate change by storing huge carbon..

New findings: Forest could release huge carbon because of climate change

A recent study by IUFRO indicates that:

..more intense pest invasions, and other environmental stresses that could accompany climate change—would lead to considerable forest destruction and degradation. This could create a dangerous feedback loop in which damage to forests from climate change significantly increases global carbon emissions which then exacerbate the greenhouse effect.

The study report was prepared for the incoming session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) taking place 20 April-1 May 2009 at the UN Headquarters in New York City.

I think the findings will enrich current deliberation of  reduced emission from deforestation and degradation (REDD) convention. The REDD mechanism enabling forest tropical countries to be supported in combating deforestation and degradation which contributing about 20% of greenhouse gas.

However, IUFRO findings will lead more discussion on how forests are experiencing the warmer earth in a few decades.

Related articles

• ‘Crunch year’ for world’s forests (news.bbc.co.uk)
• African Tropical Forests Store As Much Carbon as Their Amazonian Counterparts: That Rate’s Increasing Too (treehugger.com)

Image : Book cover of  Forest Management for Climate Change Mitigation by Hannes Böttcher.

You may find it on Earth Store.

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