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Efforts in the forest
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Forests are a critical player when it comes to the carbon cycle. Every year, forests store more than 1.0 x 1015 metric tons of carbon in biomass, detritus, and soils (Dixon et al.). The storing of this carbon dioxide is very important to our planet and threshold that allows humans to thrive. Climate change is occurring, but would be accelerating much faster without carbon sinks like our forests that store the carbon dioxide humans have emitted. Carbon sequestration is defined as “the prevention of greenhouse gas build-up in the earth's atmosphere by methods such as planting trees to absorb carbon dioxide or pumping carbon dioxide into underground reservoirs” (Collins English Dictionary). Trees are able to sequester and store carbon through the process of photosynthesis: 6H20 + 6CO2 + light energy → C6H12O6 + 6O2.
At St. Lawrence University, the institution has a climate action plan that sets a goal of becoming carbon net-zero by 2040. In order to meet that goal, the school has to reduce its carbon emissions in various ways such as increasing energy efficiencies or purchasing renewable energy credits. However, since the institution is endowed with a few thousand trees, we [St. Lawrence University] should include carbon sequestration as a scope to meet our climate action goal by 2040. In order to account for the sequestered carbon, it is important to note how to go about measuring the storing of carbon dioxide in trees and accessing a few mechanisms that promote the accounting of carbon sequestration as a viable solution to climate change mitigation such as Chicago Climate Exchange and REDD+.
To measure how much carbon is stored, it is easier to separate the two carbon sequestration mechanisms: storing above ground in...
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Mitchard, Edward T.A., et al. "A Novel Application of Satellite Radar Data: Measuring Carbon Sequestration and Detecting Degradation in a Community Forestry Project in Mozambique." Plant Ecology & Diversity 6.1 (2013): 159-70. Taylor and Francis. 5 Nov. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.
St. Lawrence University. SLU Arboretum Proposal. Green Pages. St. Lawrence University, 1 Mar. 2011. Web. .
“Tool for Estimation of Stocks in Carbon Pools and Emissions from Emission Sources.” Americancarbonregistry.org. WINROCK International, Apr. 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2013
Work Plan 2013-2014. Rep. Campus Committee on Sustainability and Carbon Neutrality, n.d. Web. .
More cellular respiration is causing there to be more carbon dioxide in the air. The first piece of evidence that that supports this claim is evidence card D. Evidence card D states once the trees were cut down, some were used for housing and some were left behind for the decomposers to take care of to get energy storage molecules.. This matters because this shows that since the decomposers are decomposing the dead matter for energy storage molecules, more cellular respiration is now being used. The second piece of evidence that supports this claim is evidence card B. Evidence card B shows that once deforestation happened the forest animals started to die off slowly without any homes and cows started
A very interesting statistic is how long lived trees add to terrestrial sequestration.. For example, over the 70-year life span of a 410-acre grove of trees planted for a terrestrial sequestration project, over 70,000 tons of carbon dioxide will be sequestered.
One starting point to reducing the amount of greenhouse gases that you release is to find your carbon footprint. The carbon
David, Suzuki. “Carbon Offsets Are One of Many Solutions Needed for Global Warming.” Current Controversies: Carbon Offsets. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Print.
We humans cannot help but feel a twinge of regret when we contemplate how we brought forth the plague of global warming by our own hands in the passing years. Aside from rising sea levels as deluging coastal cities and depleting ozone layers as increasing cancer rates, we inevitably come face to face with one simple realization: it’s getting too hot in here. Moreover, we have been devastated by various extremes of nature, with spring frost storms and summer hurricanes arriving with increasing frequency. However, numerous though the causes of global warming may be, the general consensus is that carbon dioxide, which results from the burning of fuels such as coal, is the main culprit; this gas has now formed a high concentration blockade in the atmosphere, preventing heat from escaping and thus increasing the temperatures of our planet. Therefore, after assessing all facts of the problem, I humbly propose that we collect the CO2¬, compress it, and then place it into soda cans. Then, we shall store the soda cans underground, whence the CO2 originally came.
Carbon can remain in one stage of the cycle for an hour and in others up to 200 million years, it depends on the stage in the cycle. Carbon, in the form of coal, oil and even diamonds, can remain underground anywhere from one million to 200 million years, longer than any other stages in the cycle. Whereas the carbon being consumed by plants for photosynthesis, carbon can be released in a matter of hours.
One of the most compelling and difficult environmental problems society faces today is climate change. People do not realize how much the environment has changed for the worse in the last ten years, until they are told that the last two decades of the 20th century have been the hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies (Conserve Energy Future). Today, the carbon dioxide levels have reached 396.81 parts per million (ppm). “Carbon dioxide (CO2) has also increased over the last 100 years-- from about 300 ppm to 370 ppm. Interestingly, the majority of these additions have occurred in the last 50 years, when temperature increases have been the slowest” (geocraft).
Everyone needs to respire in order to live, which includes plants and animals. Trees and plants help to regulate the carbon cycle. When the trees take in the carbon dioxide from the environment, they give back to oxygen. When trees are cut down, there is a break in the carbon cycle, and there is no exchange in both oxygen and carbon dioxide which causes a spike in carbon dioxide levels. When these occur carbon dioxide moves in the atmosphere and stores there as a greenhouse gas. “However, deforestation still remains the second leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions, just behind industrial emissions” (Culas). Greenhouse gases disturb the normal regulation of the weather. When greenhouse captures and stores heat problems occur. When the carbon dioxide levels in the greenhouse gases are increased, then the atmospheric conditions becomes unstable, which causes global warming. Global warming is the increase in the temperature of the earth, which is mostly caused by the greenhouse effects. Global warming present itself by affecting the environment by causing drought, floods, change in ecosystem, less fresh water available and other environmental issues. Trees play a big role not only in keeping the soil rich, regulating the water table, providing a stable anchor for soil to lessen soil erosion and providing nutrient rich soil for agriculture but it also helps in the absorption of carbon emission in the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide is the largest contributor of green house gases. While carbon dioxide comes from many natural sources, it is the main greenhouse gas emitted by human activities. Carbon dioxide is released...
“Carbon Footprint” is a metaphor to illustrate for the amount of carbon emissions the global community let into the environment. Carbon does not just refer to the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide but also the other greenhouse gases; methane, nitrous oxide, hydro-fluorocarbon and sulphur hexafluoride. These greenhouse gas emissions are standardized by calculating its global warming potential, which involves converting GHG emissions into carbon dioxide equivalents so that they can be compared.
In 1927, for the first time in history, the world’s population reached two billion people. In 2011, less than one hundred years later, it passed seven billion (Worldometers). Some may think that this is a positive increase, creating economic growth and significant innovations in fields such as agriculture, industry and medicine. However, the amount of difficulties our species will encounter over the next century because of this population increase, will greatly outweigh those few optimistic beliefs. For example, twelve to fifteen million hectares of forest are lost every year, the equivalent of thirty six football fields per minute (World Wildlife Fund). In 2011, there were an estimated nine and a half billion metric tonnes of carbon emissions put into our atmosphere (CO₂ Now). The list could go on and on, but ultimately, these are all just contributors to what might be humanity’s most challenging problem yet: climate change.
But they can become carbon sources when they are cut or burned. Tropical forests hold more than 210 gigatons of carbon and deforestation represents around 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. These GHG emissions lead to rise in temperatures, weather changes, water changes and increase the chance of extreme weather events. In Sumatra, for example rainforests on deep peat lands are being cleared and converted to plantations, leading to the high GHG emissions in Indonesia. These climate changes can affect forest creatures due to loss of food and water, while some can adapt species losses can occur
The release of excess CO2, because of large clearing of forests is a long-term problem, as it causes the land to be inhabitable by animals and humans. This causes a large economical cost to the environment as the area is no longer able to be of any use and is also destroying the atmosphere. Some people would not understand how much effect that land clearing actually has to the world. Most people would understand that trees create oxygen, however, they would be unaware that when trees are cut down, they release CO2, back into the atmosphere, which is damaging the Earth. The problem is illegal loggers and large industrial companies, are selfish and would not care about the destructive effects, therefore they would continue to clear land as long as it benefits them. Planting more trees can potentially repair the damage of deforestation, however, there is no certain fix to this
Human activities add to the levels of these gasses, causing more problems. “Automobiles, heat from homes and businesses, and factories are responsible for about 80% of today's carbon dioxide emissions, 25% of methane emissions, and 20% of the nitrous oxide emissions.” (3) The increase in agriculture, deforestation, landfills, industrial production, and mining contribute a significant share of emissions also. These gases that are released into the atmosphere are tracked by emission inventories. An emission inventory counts the amount of air pollutants discharged into the atmosphere. These inventories are important in studying the affects of global warming on the Earth.
The older, larger trees can store much, much more carbon dioxide than a new tree