Trees and Climate Change

1. Trees and Climate Change

2. Global Warming • the recent increase of the mean temperatures in the earth’s atmosphere and oceans which is predominantly caused by human induced greenhouse emissions • Effects: occurrence and magnitude of rising sea levels, precipitation patterns, extreme weather, biological extinctions, and change in agricultural production

3. Greenhouse Effect • the process by which an atmosphere warms a planet’s surface. In this effect, the sun sends out a vast amount of short wavelength radiation (visible light) which penetrates into the earth’s atmosphere. ¼ of this radiation is reflected back into space by clouds and the atmosphere. The Earth’s surface absorbs the rest, heats up, and radiates this energy back as long wavelength radiation (infrared.) Infrared radiation is trapped inside heat trapping gases in the atmosphere. http://www.classroomencounters.com/

4. What are Northern Boreal Forests? • one of the three vast forest ecosystems in the world along with the temperate forest of the mid-latitudes, and tropical forest near the equator • supports a plentiful variety of wildlife, which range from endangered species to extremely valuable wood. • Unfortunately, over half of the existing boreal forest may disappear, due to the effects of climate change. This will pose several problems: the loss of trees and the carbon dioxide that will be released from dying trees when climate change occurs. http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0206/feature2/images/ft_hdr.2.jpg

5. How do they affect climate? • The boreal forests are major carbon sinks, absorbing an average of between 700 million and 1.3 billion metric tonnes of carbon each year. • They can absorb13-24% of approximately 5.5 billion tonnes of carbon released annually from the burning of fossil fuels in 1980-1989 • They absorb co2 in the atmosphere by photosynthesis in which they take co2 from the atmosphere and release oxygen http://www.caribbeanedu.com/images/kewl/photosynthesis.gif

6. How are they affected by climate? • Climate change will affect boreal ecosystems in a number of ways: the air temperature will increase, rainfall and humidity will change and soils will turn dry, resulting in a necessity of adaptation that the boreal trees can not handle. • the boreal forests are likely to decrease in area, biomass, and carbon stock, along with a noticeable loss in their southern boundaries. Tree Growth and Inter-Decadal Climate Variability www.usgcrp.gov/.../education/alaska/ak-edu-5.htm

7. Carbon Dioxide’s Influence • If carbon dioxide levels were to double in concentration, as predicted will happen over the next 100 years, then the boreal forest belts would shift northward by about 500 km • These new forest belts would no longer be Boreal but rather a more fast-moving flexible species such as those with wider seed spreading, faster growth, and early maturity Carbon dioxide levels http://www.cossa.csiro.au/lb/lbbook/lcc/co2.jpg

8. What you can do • Reduce the amount of fossil fuel based energy you use (drive less; waste less and and use less electricity, heat, and refrigeration) • Join a group to plant trees and prevent forest fires such as: http://www.ahc.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=160

9. Conclusion • Boreal Forests contribute to co2 sequestration as do rocks, phytoplankton, oceans, soil, and other natural systems. • As co2 levels go up, the need to remove these and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere increases. Boreal trees play a crucial role as living carbon sinks and need to be protected. • Human rates of carbon emissions must be reduced. • Anyone can make a difference! • http://www.werc.usgs.gov/scoter/2005/images/ss4.jpg