Foreste e riscaldamento globale

["AlessandroGimona"<agimona@libero.it>]

Secondo risultati pubblicati sull'ultimo numero di Nature riforestando 
aree coperte da neve si potrebbe accelerare il riscaldamento globale a 
causa della ridotta riflessione di energia dalla terra allo spazio.

I Carbon credits proposti nei negoziati di Kyoto potrebbero non 
essere una  buona idea *per quanto riguarda la foresta boreale* 
..sarebbe interessante estendere le ricerche alle zone alpine.

articolo e dettagli sotto

spero interessi,

Alessandro Gimona
agimona@libero.it


Forests Could Speed Up Global Warming,
                    Scientists Say 

                    By Patricia Reaney

                    LONDON (Reuters) - Global warming could happen 
faster than scientists
                    expect because forests, instead of mitigating 
climate change, could speed it up,
                    researchers said Wednesday.

                    As environment ministers prepare for a major climate 
change conference in
                    The Hague next week, scientists at Britain's Hadley 
Center for Climate
                    Prediction and Research said planting forests to 
absorb carbon dioxide (CO2)
                    and reduce global warming could be 
counterproductive.

                    Two studies published in the science journal Nature 
using computer models of
                    global warming show that as temperatures rise, 
forests, or so-called carbon
                    sinks, are likely to emit more CO2 into the 
atmosphere, leading to further
                    warming of the climate.

                    ``Our initial results suggest that vegetation and 
soils, which currently absorb
                    about a quarter of human-made carbon dioxide 
emissions, could accelerate
                    future climate change by releasing carbon to the 
atmosphere as the planet
                    warms,'' said Dr Peter Cox.

                    The findings could have important implications for 
the Hague meeting because
                    the use of carbon sinks is one of the key issues 
that will be debated at the
                    two-week conference.

                    Ministers from around the world will try to seal an 
international agreement to
                    cut emissions of CO2 by an average of five percent 
of 1990 levels by
                    2008-2012 in line with a treaty agreed in Kyoto, 
Japan in 1997.

                    The Kyoto treaty allows countries to plant forests 
to offset some of their CO2
                    emissions.

                    ``All we can say... is that if you want to plant 
trees to absorb CO2 in order to
                    offset additional future emissions there are a huge 
amount of uncertainties,'' Dr
                    Geoff Jenkins, head of the Hadley climate change 
program, said in a telephone
                    interview.

                    ``On the other hand if you refrain from emitting 
carbon into the atmosphere you
                    know where you are in terms of its effect on CO2. So 
there is a big difference
                    in the uncertainty levels between those two courses 
of action,'' he added.