Global warming and tropical carbon

摘要

Tropical forests and savannahs are responsible for most of the annual exchange of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the land surface. Long growing seasons and high rainfall create extremely productive tropical ecosystems that store a considerable amount of the world's above-ground biomass. The fate of this carbon pool could influence future atmospheric carbon levels and thus our ability to stabilize greenhouse gases at levels that do not dangerously interfere with the climate system.