File:Amazon deforestation timeline.jpg

From Green Policy
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
Line 43: Line 43:
 
[[Category:Earth System Science]]
 
[[Category:Earth System Science]]
 
[[Category:Forests]]
 
[[Category:Forests]]
 +
[[Category:Rain Forest]]
 
[[Category:Rainforest]]
 
[[Category:Rainforest]]
[[Category:Rainforests]]
 
 
[[Category:Sustainability]]
 
[[Category:Sustainability]]

Revision as of 05:14, 7 December 2019


Amazon Tipping Point


By Thomas E. Lovejoy and Carlos Nobre


In the 1970s, Brazilian scientist Eneas Salati shattered the long held dogma that vegetation is simply the consequence of climate and has no influence on climate whatsoever. Using isotopic ratios of oxygen in rainwater samples collected from the Atlantic to the Peruvian border, he was able to demonstrate unequivocally that the Amazon generates approximately half of its own rainfall by recycling moisture 5 to 6 times as airmasses move from the Atlantic across the basin to the west.

From the start, the demonstration of the hydrological cycle of the Amazon raised the question of how much deforestation would be required to cause the cycle to degrade to the point of being unable to support rain forest ecosystems...

Where might the tipping point be for deforestation-generated degradation of the hydrological cycle? The very first model to examine this question showed that at about 40% deforestation, central, southern and eastern Amazonia would experience diminished rainfall and a lengthier dry season, predicting a shift to savanna vegetation to the east...

We believe that negative synergies between deforestation, climate change, and widespread use of fire indicate a tipping point for the Amazon system to flip to non-forest ecosystems in eastern, southern and central Amazonia at 20-25% deforestation.

The severity of the droughts of 2005, 2010 and 2015-16 could well represent the first flickers of this ecological tipping point.

We believe that the sensible course is not only to strictly curb further deforestation, but also to build back a margin of safety against the Amazon tipping point, by reducing the deforested area to less than 20%, for the commonsense reason that there is no point in discovering the precise tipping point by tipping it. At the 2015 Paris Conference of the Parties, Brazil committed to 12 million ha of reforestation by 2030. Much or most of this reforestation should be in southern and eastern Amazonia. The hydrological cycle of the Amazon is fundamental to human well-being in Brazil and adjacent South America.



More on Deforestation and Loss of Biodiversity


File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current17:11, 30 October 2018Thumbnail for version as of 17:11, 30 October 2018800 × 417 (64 KB)Siterunner (Talk | contribs)

The following 2 pages link to this file:

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
GreenPolicy360
Daily Green Stories
About Our Network
Navigate GreenPolicy
Hot Times
Climate Action Plans 360
GreenPolicy360 in Focus
Going Green
Global Green New Deal
Green Education
Relational Eco-Politics
Biodiversity, Protecting Life
New Visions of Security
Strategic Demands
'Planetary Health Pledge'
Global Food Revolution
Earthviews
Countries & Maps
Digital 360
Fact Checking, 'Facts Count'
Data, Intelligence, Science
GreenPolicy360 & Science
Climate Denial / Misinfo
Eco-Education
GreenPolicy Reviews
Envir Legis Info (U.S.)
Envir-Climate Laws (U.S.)
Trump Era Envir Rollbacks
Wiki Ballotpedia (U.S.)
Wiki Politics (U.S.)
Wikimedia Platform
Green News/Dailies
Green News Services (En)
Green Zines (En)
Green Lists @Wikipedia
Climate Action UN News
Climate Agreement / INDCs
Wikipedia on Climate
GrnNews Reddit Daily
Climate Current Metrics
Climate Historic Studies
Climate Change - MIT
Climate Change - NASA
Copernicus Programme
Our World in Data
Worldometer
EcoInternet Search Engine
Ecosia Search Engine
Identify Nature's Species
Meta
Tools