Deforestation and Climate Change

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Deforestation and Climate Change

• Christie Klimas
• Adjunct Faculty - Benedictine

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Trees and the carbon cycle

• Trees and forests remove CO2 from the atmosphere
• Convert CO2 to carbon
• Store carbon as wood and vegetation
• Soil
• Deforestation releases stored carbon
• Burning and decomposition
• Timber products actually store carbon
• Feedbacks with climate change

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Impacts of Deforestation

• Deforestation comprises 18-20 of worlds carbon
  emissions (Stern 2006)
• More than worlds trains, cars, airplanes and
  ships combined
• Brazil responsible for 40
• Must reduce
• For temperature increases below 2C

Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change,
2006
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Tropical Deforestation

• Economic Growth is an important factor
  influencing changes in land use
• Soy and cattle are major drivers
• Selective timber harvest
• Different scales
• Some caused by large landholders
• Forest communities also deforest
• Roads

Photo by Wernher Krutein
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Source http//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co
mmons/b/b9/Amazonie_deforestation.jpg
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Ecosystem Transformations can Occur Within a
Short Time
Example Atlantic Forest in Southern Bahia
1945
1990
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How can we save the forest without a strict
preservationist attitude?
One alternative
Reduced Emissions from Degradation and
Deforestation (REDD)
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REDD Paying for Forests

• Essence
• Pay people to NOT cut trees
• Pay for tree planting
• Requires knowledge of what would have happened
• How much land would have been cleared?
• May benefit large landholders

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• Benefits

• Challenges

• Easier than changing transportation worldwide
• Establishes a financial link between those who
  value forests and those responsible for the
  forest
• Money can benefit communities
• Monthly salary (28/month)
• Hospitals, schools
• 800 million startup budget
• Future cost much higher than current cost

• Enforcement
• corruption
• What qualifies
• Planting trees yes
• Not cutting trees no
• Outsourcing carbon emissions to developing
  nations
• What would have happened?
• Benefits those who are the worst deforesters
• Cost
• 7 to 28 billion/year

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What is the future of the Amazon rain forest?