Global warming in Amazonia: impacts and Mitigation

Abstract

Global warming has potentially catastrophic impacts in Amazonia, while at the same time maintenance of the Amazon forest offers one of the most valuable and cost-effective options for mitigating climate change. We know that the El Niño phenomenon, caused by temperature oscillations of surface water in the Pacific, has serious impacts in Amazonia, causing droughts and forest fires (as in 1997-1998). Temperature oscillations in the Atlantic also provoke severe droughts (as in 2005). We also know that Amazonian trees die both from fires and from water stress under hot, dry conditions. In addition, water recycled through the forest provides rainfall that maintains climatic conditions appropriate for tropical forest, especially in the dry season. What we need to know quickly, through intensified research, includes progress in representing El Niño and the Atlantic oscillations in climatic models, representation of biotic feedbacks in models used for decision-making about global warming, and narrowing the range of estimating climate sensitivity to reduce uncertainty about the probability of very severe impacts. Items that need to be negotiated include the definition of "dangerous" climate change, with the corresponding maximum levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Mitigation of global warming must include maintaining the Amazon forest, which has benefits for combating global warming from two separate roles: cutting the flow the emissions of carbon each year from the rapid pace of deforestation, and avoiding emission of the stock of carbon in the remaining forest that can be released by various ways, including climate change itself. Barriers to rewarding forest maintenance include the need for financial rewards for both of these roles. Other needs are for continued reduction of uncertainty regarding emissions and deforestation processes, as well as agreement on the basis of carbon accounting. As one of the countries most subject to impacts of climate change, Brazil must assume the leadership in fighting global warming.KEYWORDS: Carbon, Climate change, Deforestation, Environmental services, Global warming, Greenhouse effect Aquecimento Global na Amazônia: Impactos e Mitigação RESUMO O aquecimento global tem impactos potencialmente catastróficos na Amazônia, e, ao mesmo tempo, a manutenção da floresta amazônica oferece uma das opções mais valiosas e baratas para mitigar as mudanças climáticas. Nós sabemos que o fenômeno de El Niño, causado por uma oscilação da temperatura da superfície da água no Pacífico, tem impactos sérios na Amazônia, causando secas e incêndios florestais, como aconteceram em 1997-1998. Oscilações de temperatura no Atlântico também provocam secas severas, como em 2005. Nós também sabemos que árvores amazônicas morrem, tanto do fogo como do estresse hídrico sob condições quentes e secas. Além disso, a água reciclada pela floresta fornece chuva que mantém as condições climáticas apropriadas para floresta tropical, especialmente durante a estação seca. O que nós precisamos saber com urgên...

Possible impacts of climate change on wetlands and its biota in the Brazilian Amazon

“…The probable impacts of global warming are a potential threat to the world as a whole, and in Brazil, the Amazon is one of the regions predicted to suffer the most severe impact (Fearnside, 2008b(Fearnside, , 2009Marengo et al, 2011a, b). This region is home to a great diversity of ecosystems, including several types of wetlands, among which some of the more important are the floodplains and mangroves, which support high biodiversity and productivity (Gopal and Junk, 2000).…”

Predição do índice de temperatura do globo negro e umidade e do impacto das variações climáticas em galpões avícolas climatizados

“…O aquecimento do ambiente prejudica as respostas produtivas e reprodutivas, as condições metabólicas e de saúde e as respostas imunológicas dos animais (NARDONE et al, 2010), além da qualidade da carne (GREGORY, 2010). Esses resultados poderão ser danosos à economia brasileira, pois o Brasil é um dos países mais sujeitos aos impactos das mudanças climáticas (FEARNSIDE, 2009).…”

Balanço Hídrico na Bacia Amazônica Brasileira (Water Balance in the Brazilian Amazon Basin)

“…The variability of precipitation and flow in the Amazon basin are issues of major concern, due to the deforestation of burning, the extremes (drought and flooding) and meteorological phenomena, such as El Nino, causing the dry, forest fires ( Fearnside, 2009) and La Niña, which unlike raises rainfall, causing floods, leaving whole riverside populations homeless.…”