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Human activities increasing carbon sequestration in forests |
| TheAllINeed.com |
(NC&T/OSU) The findings create a more complex view of the carbon cycle in forests, where it was already known that logging or other stand-replacement events – whether natural or not – create periods of five to 20 years when there is a net release of carbon dioxide from forests to the atmosphere, instead of sequestration as they do later on.
The end result is a highly variable forest carbon cycle that appears to be heavily influenced by the footprint of humans, one way or another. It's a complicated process with powerful driving forces that were poorly understood, said scientists from 10 institutions in the United States, Canada and Europe.
Until this report, researchers had never quantified the effect of continuous low levels of nitrogen deposition to spur net carbon uptake by forests and actually offset a significant amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
This broad study analyzed the carbon balance across a network of forest sites that represent nitrogen deposition in most of Western Europe and the continental United States. Until now, it has been difficult to separate the effects of nitrogen deposition on forests from the many other variables that affect their carbon release or sequestration – things like forest age, logging, wildfires, disease or insect epidemics, or other causes. This study attempted to do that, and found that the net carbon sequestration by temperate and boreal forests was overwhelmingly determined by nitrogen inputs.
"What is surprising is that the net sequestration is quite large for a relatively low level of nitrogen addition," said Beverly Law, a professor of forest science at Oregon State University, co-author of the study and director of the AmeriFlux monitoring network in North and South America.
![]() "Through our forests, fertilization by nitrogen deposition is to some degree offsetting our carbon dioxide emissions – at least right now," she said.
It was first recognized in the 1980s that human activities, by releasing unprecedented amounts of active nitrogen into the atmosphere, were not just altering the global nitrogen cycle but also causing the eutrophication of large parts of the biosphere, the researchers said in their report. Nitrogen – produced by automobile engines, factories, and intensive agriculture – is often a key, limiting nutrient in forests and other ecosystems.
Early forest growth puts a severe nitrogen stress on the ecosystem initially, and then the forest continues to grow and remove carbon from the atmosphere for the rest of the management or life cycle, accumulating wood at a high rate on the small additional nitrogen inputs.
This growth and sequestration is achieved without applications of fertilizer that would likely result in nitrous oxide emissions, another greenhouse gas, that would offset the benefits to the atmosphere of carbon removal.
However, it's known that large additions of nitrogen to ecosystems can also be damaging above a certain threshold, researchers say, and it's unclear how long this process will continue.
"The results demonstrate that mankind is ultimately controlling the carbon balance of temperate and boreal forests, either directly through forest management or indirectly through nitrogen deposition," the study authors said.
Ultimately, mature forests, at least in northern latitudes, absorb and sequester substantial amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. Forest protection and management options have been viewed as one mechanism to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reduce concerns about the greenhouse effect and global warming.
This work was supported by the European Commission, the US Department of Energy, and other national programs.
How to make your home heating and cooling system cost effective? By: Ophelia Smith
Did your heating bill again knock your socks off? Why not mine? I have a 2100 plus square foot house but my heating system costs only $200 per month. As compared to me, your bill may be even more than $500. Why is there such a big difference? Let's know the basics to minimize this intolerable difference.
When it comes to my house, its visage is southern and obtains a good heat in winter seasons which turns into shade in summer. Most importantly, it is earth sheltered and on ground floor it is heated by propane heater. Additionally I have a wood stove for wintry days and even it is used for cooking whenever power is off. Higher altitude of mountainous location gives my home an appreciable air conditioning for free.
Now let's look on possible problems in your house. First of all your house may be in city where it gets little sun heat. Even though your house might be new and expensive but still I think insulation may be poor. Additionally you may have conventional gas heating and electric cooling system, both of which are expensive. In this way your house is sucking some extra money from your pocket. Obviously most of the houses in US are power controlled. So what you should do to save money? Here are three valuable strategies to do it efficiently.
1. Make sure to use less gas and power in extra efficient systems like air conditioners, hot water heaters and thermostats.
2. Insulation makes a big difference. You should try to increase insulation in structures which are not properly insulated. Cover all cabinets and shelves in the wall with doors. Also build a porch to shade the windows which will serve to save your home from hot sun. Investment in new sheet rock and insulation is required only once but your bill will come every month. Surely these are old ideas but we need to bring these ideas back to save some useful money.
3. While building your house you should ensure good science. Many builders avoid learning and doing something new so they use conventional ideas which are surely sucking our resources. Also poor quality systems are embedded in these extra large and too fragile houses. For this you need to learn all the basics so you become able to ask your builder for a higher quality.
Always remember houses built on small footprints have proved more energy efficient. Experiences have proved that smaller houses are cheaper to have proper heating and cooling system. Another way of proper heating and cooling is to stack the floors over each other. This way they work more efficiently and save some extra money. Similarly, earth sheltering is another useful approach. By this approach the under ground temperature remains 55 degree and it requires only a small amount of heating and dehumidifying. However some of these structures my not need any cooling or heating but still best thing about them is storm and fire resistance capability. Another option can be the addition of solar collectors to your yard and house. The idea of fireplace can be excellent in cold climates to have good heating environment in your house.
Does all this sounds good for you? Surely, if we go for good science rather than fashion, valuable money can be saved to invest some where else!
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| Quotes | I will not expose the ignorance of the faculty. - Bart Simpson.
I want an Internet. Can I have one of those? -- Spice Girl Mel B.,aka Scary Spice, pointing to a monitor during an AOL press conference
I want to get a tatoo of myself on my entire body, only 2 taller. -- Steven Wright
I think you should defend to the death their right to march, and then go down and meet them with baseball bats.-Woody Allen, on the KKK
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