CAMPBELL, Australia, May 15 (UPI) -- An Australian study has determined tropical deforestation releases 1.6 billion tons of carbon into the Earth's atmosphere each year.
Pep Canadell and colleagues from the Global Carbon Project and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization found deforestation in the tropics accounts for nearly 20 percent of carbon emissions due to human activities.
"This will release an estimated 87 (billion) to 130 billion tons of carbon by 2100, which is greater than the amount of carbon that would be released by 13 years of global fossil fuel combustion," said Canadell, "so maintaining forests as carbon sinks will make a significant contribution to stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations."
He said his team's findings suggest considerable value in preserving tropical forests such as those in Indonesia and the Amazon as carbon sinks.
The research, called the first study of its kind, involved scientists from the United States, Britain, Brazil and France who compared data from 11 climate-carbon computer models. The results are detailed in the journal Science.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment