Natural Resource Management to Offset Greenhouse Gas Emissions

摘要

Over the past century, human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, grassland conversion, draining of wetlands, and desertification have contributed to a large increase in the amounts of carbon dioxide (CO_2), atmospheric methane (CH_4), carbon monoxide (CO), and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Increases in atmospheric CO_2 and other greenhouse gases have been documented since the 1950s, and ice core data suggest the beginning of the geologically recent trend of increasing concentrations of global atmospheric CO_2 date from the late 1800s (Keeling and others 1989, Keeling and Whorf 2003). This increase in atmospheric CO_2 has mainly been attributed to the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation (Andres and others 2000, CDIAC 2000). Many environmental and atmospheric scientists believe that this rapid increase in greenhouse gases has resulted in some human-induced global warming (Raval and Ramanathan 1989). Precisely how and to what degree Earths climate will change in response to global warming is uncertain, but many terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are recognized as being particularly vulnerable to adverse climate change brought about by global warming. These areas will likely face an increase in interannual variability of rainfall, extreme climate events such as hurricanes and ice storms, insects and diseases, and altered productivity of forests, grasslands, croplands, and aquatic ecosystems.