I had realized that deforestation, particularly in the Amazon, is a contributing factor in climate change. What I hadn't realized was that climate change is also contributing to Amazonian deforestation. But according to Holdren, the rainforest hasn't just been burning lately because of people clearing forests. Rather, climate change has altered rainfall patterns and the forest is actually drier than it used to be and more susceptible to burning. In short, there's a frightening feedback loop at work.
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01 Jul 2008 11:34 am
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Easy on the italics, Matt.
What I hadn't realized was that climate change is also contributing to Amazonian deforestation.
Apparently, you are not a regular reader of The Economist.
Lets just hope that rain forests in Canada and Siberia will spring up quickly enough to save us.
Just as, or perhaps more, frightening is that same vicious cycle as applied to the permafrost. With the increasing temperatures of global warming, the permafrost is thawing. With that thaw comes the release of huge stores of methane - a very potent greenhouse gas.
So as much as we need to cut back on greenhouse gases to prevent further climate change, it may already be too late, as we may have set off a natural accelerant that once started may be impossible to stop.
Interesting you should mention that. I sit here in one of the wetter areas in the United States reluctant to exercise outside because of smoke from the fires in California, hundreds of miles away, where rainfall certainly seems to be trending down.
Where ya been Matt? The Dirty Friggin Hippie tree huggers and them pointy-head scientists have been talkin about such feedbacks for years. I see that the area around the North Pole may be ice free this summer, which you might imagine would result in lower albedo.
The biologists are now concerned that although the expected temperature change from GW is less in the tropics, tropical species are not used to temperature change (except day/night). Whereas temperate species have learned to adapt to large seasonal temperature changes tropical plants may be adapted to a very narrow temperature range. Also I think paleoclimatologists now think during warm climate episodes (I don't know if the expected Anthrogenic warming is strong enough to qualify for this), that the tropics were a biological desert -because it was too hot.
Yep, the human race is gonna be totally f*cked when the real effects of climate change start kicking in. It's a good reason to take this afternoon off from work and go get a beer.
You say that like you actually need a reason to take the day off and get a beer.
The great "Ha Ha!" of climate change comes from the fact that we don't know what's in store, that there are too many people and interests to corral into action, and that the lead time beyond which the globe is committed to destructive change is probably measured in decades. Gaia sez, "Ha Ha!" Had we been other, well, we wouldn't be in this fix to begin with.
Matt,
If you are interested in learning more about Amazonian dieback under climate change, the person you want to contact is Peter Cox over at Exter. It's quite fascinating, and more than a little unnerving. Also, you'll get to learn about the best model-name ever.
Comments closed July 15, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
And if food shortage becomes a bigger problem, we can expect more slash-and-burn activity down there. Burn, grow crops until the nutrient-poor soil is depleted, repeat.
Posted by tinisoli | July 1, 2008 11:41 AM