The New York Times mostra a importância do Brasil para a recuperação de florestas e estabilização do clima

COMENTÁRIO:

A imprensa tem repercutido o aumento da tomada de consciência mundial quanto à necessidade de investimentos e mobilização social em restauração de florestas e ecossistemas como uma das formas mais promissoras para ajudar a reverter as mudanças climáticas.

O Brasil tem uma enorme responsabilidade por ter uma das maiores extensões de terras disponíveis para a recuperação de florestas e, assim, contribuir para o clima. Além de contribuir com o planeta, a restauração de ecossistemas gera empregos, protege mananciais, mantém e recupera a fertilidade do solo e promove o turismo.

Infelizmente, sob o comando de Bolsonaro, o Brasil está na contramão e adota políticas de agressão ao meio ambiente, de estímulo ao desmatamento e de hostilidade às iniciativas internacionais de apoio financeiro a ações de proteção e restauração ecológica, como é o caso do Fundo Amazônia, que o ministro Salles se esforça para inviabilizar.

E,o tempo não para. Cada dia perdido na luta contra as mudanças climáticas, aumenta o legado de problemas que deixamos para o futuro e para as próximas gerações.

A esperança nesse momento está na pressão internacional sobre o governo brasileiro para que abandone a sua lógica insensata e criminosa com relação ao patrimônio natural brasileiro e permita que o país retome o protagonismo que obriga-se a ter.

Que se faça luz nas trevas.

Axel Grael



-----------------------------------

Researchers found that Earth could support an additional 2.5 billion acres of forestland. CreditCreditChristie Hemm Klok for The New York Times

Restoring Forests Could Help Put a Brake on Global Warming, Study Finds

By Somini Sengupta

What if we stopped cutting down forests to produce palm oil and cattle? What if we grew new forests on vacant city lots, old industrial buildings — even golf courses?

For the first time, scientists have sought to quantify this thought experiment. How many trees could be planted on every available parcel of land on Earth, where they could go, and what impact could that have on our survival?

They concluded that the planet could support nearly 2.5 billion additional acres of forest without shrinking our cities and farms, and that those additional trees, when they mature, could store a whole lot of the extra carbon — 200 gigatons of carbon, to be precise — generated by industrial activity over the last 150 years.

Parts of the study — led by researchers at ETH Zurich, a university that specializes in science, technology and engineering — were immediately criticized.

The critics did not dispute that 200 gigatons of carbon could be absorbed by trees if you planted them on every space of land available. They disputed the implications.

The study’s authors asserted that, under their model, forest restoration could absorb two-thirds of historic emissions. Zeke Hausfather, an analyst for the climate science website Carbon Brief, said the true figure would be closer to one-third. That’s because part of the emissions absorbed by the additional trees would have been absorbed by the soil or the seas anyway.

“That’s not to say that reforestation is not an important mitigation strategy, just to caution that like every other climate solution, it’s part of a larger portfolio of strategies rather than a silver bullet,” Mr. Hausfather said.

Pep Canadell, director of the Global Carbon Project, an Australia-based scientific group that produces global carbon budgets, said that reforestation “won’t fix the climate problem, albeit it should be part of the solution.”

The senior author of the study, Thomas Crowther, a professor of environmental systems science at ETH Zurich, did not immediately reply to an email seeking a comment.

Since the start of the industrial age, the average global temperature has risen by 1 degree Celsius, or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, because of accelerating greenhouse gas emissions. Temperatures are on track to rise even more in the coming years, raising the prospects of debilitating heat waves, wildfires and rising seas.

The reason forests are important is that they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and incorporate it into their roots and branches. That absorbed carbon becomes part of the soil when trees die and decompose. Depending on factors like temperature and soil management, it can remain there for millenniums.

In some cases — like when there is a forest fire, or when a drought or pest infestation destroys a large number of trees — a forest can release more carbon than it absorbs. But one study, led by University of Arizona researchers, found that even mass die-offs of trees release less carbon than expected into the atmosphere.

The latest United Nations-backed climate science panel has estimated that it would take 2.5 billion acres of new forest cover to stave off the most devastating impacts of climate change. The study led by ETH Zurich tried to quantify where on Earth new trees could be grown.

The researchers used Google Earth to generate maps of what they call Earth’s tree-carrying capacity, taking into account the effects of rising temperatures in the near-term.

A handful of countries could make a very big difference. The researchers found that Russia could restore 373 million acres, or 151 million hectares, of forest. That was followed by the United States, with 255 million acres and Canada with 193 million acres.Other large countries like Australia, Brazil and China also have large areas suitable for forest restoration.


Fonte: The New York Times




--------------------------------------------------

LEIA TAMBÉM:

Por que a Mata Atlântica é o lugar ideal para a restauração de florestas e paisagens 

Brasil é campeão em área adequada para recuperação de florestas
Restauração em larga escala já ocorre na Mata Atlântica, mostra estudo inédito
É possível equilibrar os custos da restauração com os benefícios socioambientais para a sociedade
O beabá da restauração: o que é restauração florestal em 7 perguntas
Regeneração natural de florestas tropicais é rápida, mas com baixa diversidade de espécies

Restauração de ecossistemas em Niterói

Recuperação de ecossistemas é prioridade no Plano de Metas de Niterói!
RESTAURAÇÃO DE ECOSSISTEMAS: Acompanhando experiências internacionais para subsidiar as iniciativas de Niterói
NITERÓI MAIS VERDE: Reflorestamento avança com o apoio da UFF

Niterói Jovem EcoSocial

ECOSOCIAL: Prefeitura de Niterói assina contrato para iniciar trabalhos que conciliam meio ambiente, educação e inclusão social
ECOSOCIAL: Reflorestamento para educar e incluir socialmente
ECOSOCIAL: Prefeitura prepara projeto que levará reflorestamento para comunidades de Niterói
NITERÓI ECOSOCIAL: Prefeitura contratará 400 jovens em comunidades para atuar em reflorestamento de encostas
ECOSOCIAL: Prefeitura de Niterói lança edital para contratar projeto de reflorestamento em sete comunidades