Conservation x Temperature
OBSERVATIONS
On this map, it is possible to observe two distinguishing characteristics: the conservation areas (areas highlighted in green) and temperature change (dots ranging from red, indicating greater change, to blue, indicating less change) around the globe. Initially, by characterizing the conservation units, it is possible to observe that in Australia there are different areas distributed along the continent, as well as in South America. Europe also has many conservation areas. However, when analyzing NASA data, it is observed that North America has a much smaller percentage of conservation areas than South America. In the northeastern portion of Asia, it is also possible to observe very few conservation areas. There are some conservation areas still in the maritime part, the marine reserves.
In Brazil, the country of origin of all of us in the "Injustice Things" team, the theme is extremely important. In our country, there is one of the most important forests in terms of animal and plant biodiversity, the Amazon RainForest. In times of climate change, the Amazon rainforest is said to be essential for global climate maintenance. Given this, there are, at least in theory, several conservation areas. The Amazon forest covers much of northwestern Brazil and extends to Colombia, Peru, and other countries in South America. It is the largest tropical forest in the world. In addition to the Amazon, other biomes in Brazil are facing extinction, such as the Cerrado and the Pantanal. The Pantanal, located in Mato Grosso, is one of the largest contiguous wetlands on the planet and is located in the center of South America, in the Alto Paraguai hydrographic basin, which is in the most upstream region of the entire Plata basin, which confers great responsibility on Brazil vis-à-vis other countries in the basin. It is considered a National Heritage by the Federal Constitution, as well as a Natural Heritage of Humanity and a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. The Cerrado, on the other hand, is one of the 'hotspots' for the conservation of global biodiversity. Over the past 35 years, more than half of its original 2 million km2 has been cultivated with planted pastures and crops.
The Cerrado has the richest flora among the savannas in the world (>7,000 species), with a high level of endemism.
In addition to the objective of protecting the Amazon, there are other conservation units with different categories: areas of relevant ecological interest, extractive reserve, sustainable development reserve, private natural heritage reserve, among others.
A demonstration of the importance and of a very serious problem that occurs in Brazil currently concerns a scientist, Fearnside, Nobel Peace Prize winner, during public hearings on the licensing process for paving works on the Middle Stretch of BR-319 took place in recent weeks, contrary to the recommendation of the Federal Public Ministry in Amazonas and social, environmental and indigenous movements against the work.
IN BRAZIL
INTERPRETATIONS
The increase in temperature on Earth is related to the emission of carbon dioxide into the environment. Trees are good "carbon sequestrants", that is, they manage to transform CO2 from the atmosphere into structures, such as cellulose, the polymer that makes up the wood of trees, as well as hemicelluloses and other polyposis. Furthermore, there is the aspect related to the Earth's rotation, that is, in the central regions, there is greater radiation. However, there is an environmental injustice! This is because it is not the countries that emit the most carbon dioxide that are the countries that suffer most from this temperature change. Another parallel that can be observed in NASA data: It is not the countries with the most conservation areas that are necessarily affected the most. Environmental injustice enters into this context, because, although extreme events caused or intensified by global warming also affect the richest layers of the population, they have material conditions capable of promoting adaptation and resistance alternatives to its impacts. The ability of higher-income groups to face the likely scarcity and consequent increase in the prices of natural resources and food, as well as greater access to technology and health care, are factors that make those with higher incomes less vulnerable to climate change than those with lower socioeconomic indexes.
Through carbon sequestration or capture, trees reduce the effects of carbon dioxide on the atmosphere. And this process is carried out naturally, through the growth of plants, through photosynthesis, and agribusiness will inevitablyConcerningwith the absorption of the ocean and soil.
But trees are not just essential for our atmosphere. They also have this role for our biosphere, which is the set of all ecosystems on our planet. A survey published by Nature Magazine, involving researchers from several countries, showed that restoring just 30% of the Earth's priority areas would sequester 49% of the total increase in carbon in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution and still prevent the extinction of 71% of the species. currently threatened.
Dan Benner and fellow ecologist Nathalie Butt of the University of Queensland in Australia set out to look at what would happen to carbon levels if forests located in parks and reserves in South America, Asia, and Africa were cleared. These areas represent, in total, 20% of all tropical forests. Using statistical models, the researchers were able to estimate how much carbon this deforestation would release into the atmosphere.
They found that protecting these areas between 2000 and 2012 represented the same carbon emission reduction if deforestation rates were reduced by about 30% over that same period. Their findings were published in the online version of Scientific Advances on October 25th.
Man-made deforestation is responsible for nearly 10% of the total carbon emitted globally, but tropical forests also retain 68% of the natural carbon of forests in the roots, trunks, and crowns of trees.
The team of researchers found that South America's reserves absorbed most of the carbon during that period – about 406.5 million tons. Asia's protected areas absorbed 28 million tons, and Africa's 14 million tons more.
Currently, we are already facing 1 degree Celsius of warming. For the UN scientists, who have reviewed more than 6,000 studies, we are very close to reaching 1.5oC and even reaching 2oC of warming in the first half of the century, that is, within thirty years. This is the minimum safe level for the way we live on the planet. The only possible solution, says the report, is to halve the emission of gases that heat the planet by 2030, and then bring them to zero in 2050, in addition to absorbing part of the carbon that is already in the atmosphere. On this path, new technologies and clean energy are not enough – forests will also play a fundamental role.
"In the scenario outlined by the IPCC, the future of humanity depends not only on eliminating fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, and zeroing deforestation on a global scale to reduce emissions, but also on protecting forests, savannas, and other forms of natural vegetation to capture the excess CO2 that is already in the atmosphere and that will still be emitted during the transition to a carbon-neutral economy," says Paulo Adário, Greenpeace Forests international strategist.