Drivers Of Land Use Change And The Carbon
BackgroundIncreasingly, forests are on the international climate change agenda as land use and cover changes drive forest and carbon loss. The ability of forests to store carbon has created programs such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus (REDD+), in order to provide incentives for particular land uses and forest management practices. A critical element to REDD+ is the ability to know the carbon-storage potential of an ecosystem, and the factors likely to affect the rate of carbon accumulation or the maximum amount stored.
The Land-use land cover change directly affected the forest Biomass Carbon. To understand the driving factors of LULC change and Biomass Carbon loss. Drivers of land use change and carbon mapping in the savannah area of Ghana Author: Koranteng, Addo, Adu-Poku, Isaac, Zawila-Niedzwiecki, Tomasz Source: Folia forestalia Polonica 2017 v.59 no.4 pp. 287-311 ISSN: 2199-5907 Subject. The indirect land use change impacts of biofuels, also known as ILUC, relates to the unintended consequence of releasing more carbon emissions due to land-use changes around the world induced by the expansion of croplands for ethanol or biodiesel production in response to the increased global demand for biofuels. As farmers worldwide respond to higher crop prices in order to maintain the global food supply-and-demand balance, pristine lands are cleared to replace the food crops that were diverte.
Most REDD+ initiatives have focused on humid tropical forests because of their large stocks per unit area. Less attention has been paid to the carbon-storage potential of tropical dry forests, woodlands and savannas.
Although these ecosystems support a lower biomass per unit area, they are more widespread than humid forests. This proposed systematic review examines miombo woodlands, which are the most extensive vegetation formation in Africa and support over 100 million people. We ask: To what extent have changes in land use and land cover influenced above- and below-ground carbon stocks of miombo woodlands since the 1950s? MethodsWe will search systematically for studies that document the influence of land use and cover change on above and below ground carbon in miombo woodlands since the 1950s.
We will consult bibliographic databases and an extensive grey literature network, including government reports and forestry offices. Relevant studies will examine the impacts of human activities, fire and other land use or cover changes that affect wood biomass or soil carbon in the miombo region. All included studies will be assessed for the soundness and scientific validity of their study design. A quantitative synthesis will tabulate estimates of various parameters necessary to assess carbon stocks and changes across climate and geological factors; and a qualitative analysis will describe the governing land and forest policies. Understanding the impact that land uses and the associated changes have on carbon storage in the miombo woodlands will contribute to more informed forest management policies and better guided strategies for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO 2) is on the rise.
Changes In Land Use Over Time
Changes in land use – including forest clearance for agriculture, settlement and industrial expansion – have contributed about 136 (±55) Gt C or one-third of total anthropogenic emissions of CO 2 to the atmosphere over the past 150 years,. The importance of CO 2 to climate change has provided the impetus for research on the global carbon cycle with particular attention on carbon stocks in the main terrestrial compartments, mainly soils and plant biomass,. Various carbon initiatives have been designed to provide innovative ways for reducing the release of greenhouse gases and to increase carbon storage in various ecosystems: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and enhancement of carbon stocks through forest conservation and sustainable management (REDD+) is one such an initiative.
The purpose of REDD+ is to create an incentive for developing countries to protect, better manage and wisely use their forest resources, thereby contributing to the global fight against climate change. One critical element for the REDD+ mechanism is the ability to know the carbon-storage potential of a forest ecosystem, and the factors likely to affect both the rate of carbon accumulation and the maximum amount of carbon that can be stored. To date, most nascent REDD+ initiatives have focused on tropical moist forests because of their large carbon stocks per unit area (see) and the substantial emissions of greenhouse gases that would result from converting these forests to pastures, cropland, or commercial timber plantations. Much less attention has been paid to the potential for reducing emissions from, and potential carbon storage in, dry forests and woodlands–.
Although these systems support a much lower and more variable woody biomass per unit area, they are more widespread than tropical moist forests,. This is especially so in Africa, where land supporting, or capable of supporting, dry forests and woodlands cover approximately 8,592,420 km 2 in contrast to the 3,479,180 km 2 of dense and mosaic forest.The miombo region encompasses a complex of vegetation formations each dominated by one or a few tree species in the legume subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Miombo woodlands are the most widespread and are dominated by species in the genera Brachystegia, Julbernardia and Isoberlinia on a wide range of acid, infertile, and generally medium-textured soils.
Interspersed with the miombo woodlands, or situated towards the periphery of the region, are a number of structurally-similar vegetation formations each associated with particular edapho-climatic conditions. These include woodlands and open forest formations dominated by Baikiaea plurijuga on nutrient-poor, well-drained Kalahari sand; Marquesia macroura (Family Dipterocarpaceae) on deep, well-drained sandy loams in the high rainfall zone; Cryptosepalum pseudotaxus on sands with seasonally high water tables; and Colophospermum mopane on arid, alkaline, often nutrient-rich Triassic shales and shallow basaltic loams.
Pockets of mixed woodland (called munga in Central Africa) dominated by Acacia, Combretum and Terminalia spp occur within miombo on limestone-derived loams and in the major river valleys on clay-rich alluvium, often alongside mopane woodlands and shrub lands.Miombo woodlands support the livelihoods of over 100 million rural and urban dwellers through the provision of timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as bees wax, honey, edible fruits, edible insects, mushrooms and traditional medicines,. More than 80% of the rural population derive their livelihoods from the woodlands through permanent and shifting cultivation, charcoal and timber production, and the harvesting and sale of NTFPs,. Human activities are resulting into woodland degradation and cover loss, as well as loss in fauna, flora and woodland ecosystems. The miombo woodlands, like many vegetation formations associated with them, are extensively disturbed, with little intact or old-regrowth woodland remaining and tree cover continuing to decline as a result of these poor land management practices. Consequently, there has been a downward trend in the carbon stock of forest biomass in many miombo countries (see Table).
Considering the need to protect woodlands and support local livelihoods in the region, a convincing case can be made for extending REDD+ initiatives into the dry forests and woodlands of Africa. As a result of mixed intensive and extensive land uses, miombo woodlands have varied land cover. While some of the woodlands are composed of tall, almost closed-canopy stands, other areas are cleared for shifting cultivation and charcoal production. These variations in land cover influence how much biomass and carbon the woodlands can hold. Soil organic carbon (SOC) content, for instance, is reduced by cultivation and wood harvesting. A comparative study between the relatively undisturbed woodland and disturbed woodland in the Zimbabwean miombo revealed significant variation in soil carbon.
Who can reduce global warming?To address global warming, we need to significantly. As individuals, we can help by being mindful of our electricity use, reducing the number of miles we drive, and taking other steps to.But we can also help by calling for government and corporate decision makers to reduce the threat of global warming by:. Expanding the use of and transforming our energy system to one that is cleaner and. Increasing and supporting other solutions that. on the amount of carbon that polluters are allowed to emit. by investing in efficient energy technologies, industries, and approaches. and its associated global warming emissions.
Implementing effective. How do we know that humans are the major cause of global warming?We all know that warming—and cooling—has happened in the past, and long before humans were around. Many factors (called “climate drivers”) can influence Earth’s climate—such as changes in the sun’s intensity and volcanic eruptions, as well as heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.So how do scientists know that today’s warming is primarily caused by humans putting too much carbon in the atmosphere when we burn coal, oil, and gas or cut down forests?
We know human activities are driving the increase in CO2 concentrations because atmospheric CO2 contains information about its source. Scientists can tease apart how much CO2 comes from natural sources, and how much comes from burning coal, oil and gas (called fossil fuels).Carbon from fossil fuels has a distinct “signature,” essentially the relative amounts of heavier and lighter atoms of carbon, than carbon from other sources. The smaller the ratio of heavier to lighter carbon atoms, the higher the proportion of carbon from fossil fuels.Over the years, the ratio of heavy to light carbon atoms has decreased while the overall amount of CO2 has increased. This information tells scientists that fossil fuel emissions are the largest contributor of atmospheric CO2 concentrations since the pre-industrial era.Moreover, natural changes alone can’t explain the temperature changes we’ve seen. For a computer model to accurately project the future climate, scientists must first ensure that it accurately reproduces observed temperature changes. When the models include only recorded natural climate drivers—such as the sun’s intensity—the models cannot accurately reproduce the observed warming of the past half century.
When human-induced climate drivers are also included in the models, then they accurately capture recent temperature increases in the atmosphere and in the oceans. When all the natural and human-induced climate drivers are compared to one another, the dramatic accumulation of carbon from human sources is by far the largest climate change driver over the past half century. Why does CO2 get most of the attention when there are so many other heat-trapping gases?Global warming is primarily a problem of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This carbon overload is caused mainly when we burn fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas or cut down and burn forests. There are many heat-trapping gases (e.g. Methane and water vapor), but CO2 puts us at the greatest risk of irreversible changes if it continues to accumulate unabated in the atmosphere.
Does air pollution—specifically particulate matter (aerosols)—affect global warming?Air pollution occurs when gases, dust, smoke, or fumes reach harmful levels in the atmosphere. Tiny atmospheric particles known as are a kind of air pollution that is? Suspended in our atmosphere.Aerosol can be both solid and liquid.
Are produced by natural processes such as erupting volcanoes, and some are from human industrial and agricultural activities.Aerosols have a. Light-colored aerosol particles can reflect incoming energy from the sun in cloud-free air and dark particles can absorb it. Historically, the from aerosols was to partially offset the rise in global mean surface temperature. Aerosols can modify how much energy clouds reflect and they patterns.Several climate intervention also known as “”) strategies for reducing global warming propose using atmospheric aerosol particles to reflect the sun’s energy away from Earth. Because aerosol particles do not stay in the atmosphere for very long—and global warming gases stay in the atmosphere for decades to centuries—accumulated heat-trapping gases will overpower any temporary cooling due to short-lived aerosol particles. How does the sun affect our climate?The sun is the source of most of the energy that drives the biological and physical processes in the world around us—in oceans and on land it fuels plant growth that forms the base of the food chain, and in the atmosphere it warms air, which drives our weather.The rate of energy coming from the sun changes slightly day to day. Over many millennia, the Earth-Sun orbital relationship can change the geographical distribution of the sun’s energy over the Earth’s surface.
It has been suggested that changes in solar output might affect our climate—both directly, by changing the rate of solar heating of the Earth and atmosphere, and indirectly, by altering cloud forming processes.On a time-scale of millions of years, changes in solar intensity is a critical factor influencing climate (e.g., ice ages). However, changes to solar heating rate over the last century cannot account for the magnitude and distribution of the rise in global mean temperature, and there is no convincing evidence for significant indirect influences on our climate due to twentieth century changes in solar output. Is there a connection between the hole in the ozone layer and global warming?Ozone (O3) high in the atmosphere absorbs ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, preventing it from reaching the Earth’s surface where it can harm people, planets, and animals. UV radiation is dangerous and can cause health problems from eye damage to skin cancer. The term “ozone hole” refers to recent depletion of this protective ozone layer over Earth's polar regions.The ozone hole, however, is not a mechanism of global warming. UV radiation represents less than one percent of the energy from the sun—not enough to be the cause of the excess heat from human activities.
Global warming is caused primarily from putting too much carbon into the atmosphere when coal, gas, and oil are burned to generate electricity or to run our cars. These gases spread around the planet like a blanket, keeping in solar heat that would otherwise be radiated out into space. (For more detail on the basic mechanism of global warming, see )Ozone depletion and global warming do, however, have a common cause—human activities that release gases into and alter the atmosphere. Ozone depletion occurs when chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—once common in aerosol spray cans and refrigerants—are released into the atmosphere. These gases break down ozone molecules through several chemical reactions, reducing ozone's UV radiation-absorbing capacity.Because our atmosphere is one connected system, it is not surprising that ozone depletion and global warming are related in other ways. For example, that climate change may contribute to thinning of the protective ozone layer. What is the best source of scientific information on global warming?In 1988, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to examine the most current scientific information on global warming and climate change.
Erik Nelson
Is global warming already happening?Yes. We know it is getting warmer.
Land Use Change Definition Geography
Keep coming up month after month, year after year, locally and globally. However, temperatures are but one of many indicators of global warming.