Resources and Reflections

PhysOrg.com May 28th, 2009

Policies that turn forests into valuable carbon storage units would likely preserve forests and lower costs of cutting atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Cutting down forests for agriculture vents excess carbon dioxide into the air just as industrial activities and the burning of fossil fuels do. But whether policies to stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere should include this terrestrial source of carbon dioxide is under debate. According to a new study this week in Science, failing to include land use changes in such policies could lead to massive deforestation and higher costs for limiting carbon emissions.

The results also suggest improved agricultural technology will be as important as new energy technologies in a carbon-limited future.

To understand the effects of economic forces from climate policy on terrestrial carbon and land use changes, researchers with the Joint Global Change Research Institute in College Park, Md., a collaboration between the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland, used an integrated assessment model called MiniCAM to compare different scenarios. This computer model incorporates economics, energy, agriculture, land-use changes, emissions and concentrations of greenhouse gases in order to understand the way that human decisions interact with natural processes that control climate.

For this study, the researchers set the highest concentration that carbon dioxide could reach. Then they compared two ways to stay within that limit: in one, they taxed terrestrial carbon emissions and industrial and fossil fuel emissions all at the same rate. In the other, they only taxed emissions from industry and fossil fuels.

Ignoring terrestrial carbon led to nearly complete loss of unmanaged forests by 2100, largely as a result of massive expansions of bioenergy crops — those planted to reduce the use of fossil fuels — replacing forests. However, placing a value on terrestrial carbon emissions led to increased forest cover, while bioenergy still expanded considerably compared to today.

“When society tries to limit carbon dioxide concentrations, if terrestrial carbon emissions aren’t valued but fossil fuel and industrial emissions are, economic forces could create very strong pressures to deforest,” said PNNL scientist Marshall Wise, the study leader.

In addition, the cost to reduce global emissions in a world that valued terrestrial, fossil fuel, and industrial sources dropped to half that of the world in which only fossil fuel and industrial entities paid to emit carbon. This suggests that storing carbon in forests, agricultural areas, and other ecosystems is an important and cost-effective part of a bigger carbon dioxide emissions control strategy that includes dramatic changes to the global energy system.

This study also shows that continual improvement in agricultural crop productivity for crops like corn, wheat, barley, and rice will be required to best make use of limited cropland. This suggests improvements to agriculture technology could be as important as improvements to energy technology in controlling carbon emissions.

Read more on PhysOrg.com

Popularity: unranked [?]

“That is the sort of magnetic quality that Budapest radiates. Peaceful and bustling, a big metropolis and yet friendly, it treasures the old and embraces the …” That is what they say. I’d like to know more.

“Ez az a fajta mágneses minőségi Budapest sugárzik. Békés, nyüzsgő, nagy metropolisz és mégis barátságos, a kincsek és a régi öleli fel …” Ez az, amit mondanak. Szeretnék többet megtudni.

Budapest Tourism Office – Official website of Budapest : Travel to …

Budapest - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Budapest, Hungary Forecast : Weather Underground

Budapest webcam - Webcams Budapest , webcameras Hungary - Budapest …

Picture of Weird Wine Fountain in the Castle Hill Dungeons …

Tell us more. Meséld tovább.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Riverhead, Chipstead and Knole Park, storied names no doubt. I wish I knew those stories

Sevenoaks - Foreca Weather

Sevenoaks,,GB Hotels! Sevenoaks,,GB Attractions, Sevenoaks,,GB com …

Sevenoaks Triathlon Club – Club History

Timeline results for history of Sevenoaks, GB

Popularity: unranked [?]

Ahh, Brighton by the sea. Actually, from here in California, Brighton looks less bright. But I could be wrong. Tell my why Brightonites (Brightoners?).

World City Pages ( BRIGHTON, GB ) City Information0n

BRIGHTON, GB Shows on JamBase

Brighton webcam links page

5 Day Weather Forecast for Brighton,GB - Qwikcast.com

The original weird cycle lane of Brighton

What have I missed?

Popularity: unranked [?]

Good day and welcome to out visitors from Belfast. It appears that English to Gaelic translation is a bit of a sticky wicket both technically and historically so  let me just say “ dia dhuit” and  ”fáilte romhat ”.

Translation by Irish Dictionary.org

5 Day Weather Forecast for Belfast,GB - Qwikcast.com

Live Ghost Watch WebCam   (I saw on, I saw one…wait a minute…no, no I didn’t)

Crown Bar Liquor Saloon, Belfast, N. Ireland, Famous Pub ( Now this I can see)

Timeline results for history of Belfast, GB

Share some facts, stories or just plain blarney

Popularity: unranked [?]

I had a lovely time in Madrid, when Franco was still in power, and have friends in Barcelona, Let me welcome our Spanish friends.

Tuve un tiempo precioso en Madrid, cuando Franco todavía estaba en el poder, y tener amigos en Barcelona. Quiero dar la bienvenida a nuestros amigos españoles.

esMADRID.com – Visit Madrid!

Jobs in Madrid - Spain – for English Speaking Professionals

Madrid, Spain Forecast : Weather Underground

History of Madrid

Spain WebCams: Live WebCams from Madrid, Barcelona, & throughout Spain

JewishEncyclopedia.com - AUTO DA FÉ:

That last one is a little pointed, but it did happen. Tell us more.

Esta última es un poco señalado, pero sí suceden. Cuéntanos más.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Uvítáme našich návštěvníků z České republiky. Řekněte, je něco, co by měl vědět o krásné Praze. 

We welcome our visitors from the Czech Republic. Please tell is something we should know about beautiful Prague.

PRAGUE.CZ - all about Prague

Prague webcam, Prague hotels and accommodation in Prague

Prague, Czech Republic Forecast : Weather Underground

HARLEY-DAVIDSON CLUB PRAHA

A friend of ours is going soon to Praha to teach English, we hope he will leve us a message here and tell us about the expierience. And we invite ex-pats an Chezch people as well to share their knowledge here.

Přítel je ten náš bude brzy Praha naučit anglicky, doufáme, že bude Leve nám sem a řekněte nám o expierience. A zveme ex-poplácává jeden Chezch lidé stejně sdílet své poznatky sem.

Popularity: unranked [?]

We welcome our vistors from Muri, Switzeralnd and hope that you will share your knowledge and points of local interest with iur readers.

Nous souhaitons la bienvenue à nos visiteurs de Muri, Switzeralnd et nous espérons que vous partagerez vos connaissances et vos points d’intérêt local avec iur lecteurs.

Wir begrüßen unsere Besucher aus Muri, Switzeralnd und hoffen, dass Sie sich teilen Sie Ihr Wissen und Punkte von lokalem Interesse mit iur Leser.

Gemeinde Muri: Muri im Freiamt: Muri Aargau

muri.ch - Traffic Details from Alexa

Timeline results for History of Muri, CH

Swiss-Webcam.ch - Webcam Bärenplatz in Bern (3011 Bern)

Tell us what you know and what we should know about Muri.

Sagen Sie uns, was Sie wissen und was wir wissen sollten Muri.

Dites-nous ce que vous savez et ce que nous devrions savoir sur Muri.

Popularity: unranked [?]

CH is the international abbreviation for Switzerland, and Biel is known to most americans (OK, maybe a few) as Basel, which I did not know till now. We welcome our Swiss vistors and encourage you to share your knowledge about Biel here.

Nous souhaitons la bienvenue à nos visiteurs suisses et vous encourageons à partager vos connaissances sur Biel ici.

Wir begrüßen unsere Schweizer Besucher und empfehlen Ihnen, Ihre Kenntnisse über Biel hier.

Stadt Biel - Ville de Bienne

Buddhismus Biel

Swiss-Webcam.ch - Webcam Bergstation Skilift Biel-Kinzig AG (6463 ..

Tourism Biel/Bienne-Seeland | Excursions and Tipps | Biel’s …

International Chess Festival Biel - Home

Please comment, share your knowledge and tell us something we do not know.

Bitte äußern Sie sich, teilen Sie Ihr Wissen und uns sagen, was wir wissen es nicht.

S’il vous plaît commentaires, partager vos connaissances et de nous dire quelque chose que nous ne le savons pas.

Popularity: unranked [?]

As an Oregonian, I have been to BC and have personal connections there. A lovely place where even the poor have health care. How “un-free”.

City of Burnaby

Parks, Rec and Culture

Network Services Web Cameras | SFU Network Services

History & Heritage

UFO really like Burnaby

UFO’s, really? Tell us about it.

Popularity: unranked [?]