COMENTÁRIO:
O jornal britânico The Independent publicou o artigo abaixo sobre a ideia de que as mudanças climáticas, geradas pelo chamado efeito estufa, que por sua vez é causado pelo excesso de carbono na atmosfera, tem no reflorestamento em larga escala uma de suas mais viáveis formas de reversão. Em comparação às outras alternativas, o plantio de árvores é que mais eficientemente faria o sequestro de carbono da atmosfera. O crescimento das árvores é feito através da fixação de carbono retirado da atmosfera através do processo de fotossíntese. A biomassa produzida pela floresta se acumula e fica retido por longo tempo, ajudando a normalizar o clima.
O Dr. Thomas Crowther, ecologista da universidade ETH Zürich, apresenta o resultado de estudos que estimam que existam 3 trilhões de árvores no mundo, estimativa sete vezes maior do que a NASA havia divulgado anteriormente. Segundo ele, subestimar o número de árvores no mundo provocou também a subestimativa da capacidade de se capturar carbono com o plantio de árvores. Os três trilhões de árvores retém 400 gigatoneladas de carbono.
As novas estimativas apontam que caso seja feito um plantio de mais 1 trilhão de árvores, a quantidade de carbono fixado equivaleria às emissões antropogênicas (causadas pelo ser humano: queimadas, indústrias, carros etc) ao longo de uma década.
Em 2007, a queniana Wangari Maathai, ativista africana que se dedicou a plantar árvores nas aldeias e foi vencedora do Prêmio Nobel da Paz, lançou a Campanha do Bilhão de Árvores, que foi incorporada pela Programa das Nações Unidas para o Meio Ambiente. Desde a sua criação, a campanha obteve adesões voluntárias e foram registrados o plantio de 15 bilhões de árvores em 193 países.
Diante do sucesso da adesão à causa e da definição da meta de 1 trilhão de árvores, a ONU redimensionou a iniciativa e a lançou como a Campanha de Um Trilhão de Árvores. Segundo os pesquisadores, as áreas disponíveis em florestas, parques, além de terras degradadas e abandonadas.
Na minha opinião, não há uma "bala de prata" para curar a "febre da terra", ou seja, reverter o aquecimento global. O problema é complexo e a solução também haverá de ser. Só avançaremos para um futuro sustentável se fizermos a conversão para uma nova economia, com uma redução drástica de emissões de gases de efeito estufa e de baixo consumo de recursos naturais.
Como a própria matéria afirma, plantar 1 trilhão de árvores será um feito enorme, mas compensará apenas uma década de emissões atmosféricas.
E plantar um trilhão de árvores parece muito? Mas, se for o necessário para salvar o planeta, essa é a nossa obrigação perante as futuras gerações.
Vamos plantar!
Axel Grael
Engenheiro florestal
Secretário Executivo
Prefeitura de Niterói
---------------------------------------------
Massive restoration of world’s forests would cancel out a decade of CO2 emissions, analysis suggests
New findings suggest trees are 'our most powerful weapon in the fight against climate change', says scientist
Josh Gabbatiss. Washington DC
Replenishing the world’s forests on a grand scale would suck enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to cancel out a decade of human emissions, according to an ambitious new study.
Scientists have established there is room for an additional 1.2 trillion trees to grow in parks, woods and abandoned land across the planet.
If such a goal were accomplished, ecologist Dr Thomas Crowther said it would outstrip every other method for tackling climate change – from building wind turbines to vegetarian diets.
Lack of accurate information meant for years experts severely underestimated the number of trees on Earth.
Combining data from ground-based surveys and satellites, Dr Crowther and his colleagues arrived at a figure of three trillion – over seven times more than a previous Nasa estimate.
The same approach, using machine learning and AI to analyse the enormous data set, allowed the researchers to predict the number of trees that could feasibly be planted in empty patches around the world.
Dr Crowther said undervaluing trees means scientists have also been massively underestimating the potential for forests to combat climate change.
Project Drawdown, a group that compares the merits of different emission-cutting techniques, currently places onshore wind power and improved recycling of fridges and air conditioners at the top of its list.
If rolled out on a realistic scale, each of these techniques would cut over 80 gigatons of emissions, while growing forests languishes in 15th place with a saving of just 18 gigatons.
New research undertaken by Dr Crowther has used the 1.2 billion figure to estimate the potential scale of carbon capture that could be achieved by planting trees, and reveal their true potential.
“There’s 400 gigatons now, in the 3 trillion trees, and if you were to scale that up by another trillion trees that’s in the order of hundreds of gigatons captured from the atmosphere – at least 10 years of anthropogenic emissions completely wiped out,” he said.
While the exact figures are yet to be released, he said trees had emerged as “our most powerful weapon in the fight against climate change”. Dr Crowther discussed his findings at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Washington DC.
Full restoration of all sites identified is clearly unrealistic, but tree planting is increasingly being recognised as a critical activity to preserve life on Earth.
The United Nations initially ran a project known as the Billion Tree Campaign, but in light of Dr Crowther’s findings this has been renamed the Trillion Tree Campaign. It has already seen 17 billion trees planted in suitable locations around the world.
“We are not targeting urban or agricultural area, just degraded or abandoned lands, and it has the potential to tackle the two greatest challenges of our time – climate change and biodiversity loss,” said Dr Crowther.
“It’s a beautiful thing because everyone can get involved. Trees literally just make people happier in urban environments, they improve air quality, water quality, food quality, ecosystem service, it’s such an easy, tangible thing.”
Fonte: The Independent
------------------------------------------------------
LEIA TAMBÉM:
CHINA ENVÍA A MÁS DE 60.000 SOLDADOS A PLANTAR ÁRBOLES
Ranking dos países responsáveis pelas emissões dos gases do efeito estufa
An atlas of pollution: The world in carbon dioxide emissions
Diante do sucesso da adesão à causa e da definição da meta de 1 trilhão de árvores, a ONU redimensionou a iniciativa e a lançou como a Campanha de Um Trilhão de Árvores. Segundo os pesquisadores, as áreas disponíveis em florestas, parques, além de terras degradadas e abandonadas.
Na minha opinião, não há uma "bala de prata" para curar a "febre da terra", ou seja, reverter o aquecimento global. O problema é complexo e a solução também haverá de ser. Só avançaremos para um futuro sustentável se fizermos a conversão para uma nova economia, com uma redução drástica de emissões de gases de efeito estufa e de baixo consumo de recursos naturais.
Como a própria matéria afirma, plantar 1 trilhão de árvores será um feito enorme, mas compensará apenas uma década de emissões atmosféricas.
E plantar um trilhão de árvores parece muito? Mas, se for o necessário para salvar o planeta, essa é a nossa obrigação perante as futuras gerações.
Vamos plantar!
Axel Grael
Engenheiro florestal
Secretário Executivo
Prefeitura de Niterói
---------------------------------------------
Massive restoration of world’s forests would cancel out a decade of CO2 emissions, analysis suggests
 |
| Assista ao vídeo acessando aqui. Trees already store an enormous amount of carbon, and planting more would suck more CO2 from the atmosphere |
New findings suggest trees are 'our most powerful weapon in the fight against climate change', says scientist
Josh Gabbatiss. Washington DC
Replenishing the world’s forests on a grand scale would suck enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to cancel out a decade of human emissions, according to an ambitious new study.
Scientists have established there is room for an additional 1.2 trillion trees to grow in parks, woods and abandoned land across the planet.
If such a goal were accomplished, ecologist Dr Thomas Crowther said it would outstrip every other method for tackling climate change – from building wind turbines to vegetarian diets.
Lack of accurate information meant for years experts severely underestimated the number of trees on Earth.
Combining data from ground-based surveys and satellites, Dr Crowther and his colleagues arrived at a figure of three trillion – over seven times more than a previous Nasa estimate.
The same approach, using machine learning and AI to analyse the enormous data set, allowed the researchers to predict the number of trees that could feasibly be planted in empty patches around the world.
Dr Crowther said undervaluing trees means scientists have also been massively underestimating the potential for forests to combat climate change.
Project Drawdown, a group that compares the merits of different emission-cutting techniques, currently places onshore wind power and improved recycling of fridges and air conditioners at the top of its list.
If rolled out on a realistic scale, each of these techniques would cut over 80 gigatons of emissions, while growing forests languishes in 15th place with a saving of just 18 gigatons.
New research undertaken by Dr Crowther has used the 1.2 billion figure to estimate the potential scale of carbon capture that could be achieved by planting trees, and reveal their true potential.
“There’s 400 gigatons now, in the 3 trillion trees, and if you were to scale that up by another trillion trees that’s in the order of hundreds of gigatons captured from the atmosphere – at least 10 years of anthropogenic emissions completely wiped out,” he said.
While the exact figures are yet to be released, he said trees had emerged as “our most powerful weapon in the fight against climate change”. Dr Crowther discussed his findings at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Washington DC.
Full restoration of all sites identified is clearly unrealistic, but tree planting is increasingly being recognised as a critical activity to preserve life on Earth.
The United Nations initially ran a project known as the Billion Tree Campaign, but in light of Dr Crowther’s findings this has been renamed the Trillion Tree Campaign. It has already seen 17 billion trees planted in suitable locations around the world.
“We are not targeting urban or agricultural area, just degraded or abandoned lands, and it has the potential to tackle the two greatest challenges of our time – climate change and biodiversity loss,” said Dr Crowther.
“It’s a beautiful thing because everyone can get involved. Trees literally just make people happier in urban environments, they improve air quality, water quality, food quality, ecosystem service, it’s such an easy, tangible thing.”
Fonte: The Independent
------------------------------------------------------
LEIA TAMBÉM:
CHINA ENVÍA A MÁS DE 60.000 SOLDADOS A PLANTAR ÁRBOLES
Ranking dos países responsáveis pelas emissões dos gases do efeito estufa
An atlas of pollution: The world in carbon dioxide emissions
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