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Searching... | 30000010311934 | SD387.C37 W49 2013 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
Searching... | 30000010241858 | SD387.C37 W49 2013 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
Increased throughput of carbon-based fossil energy, the destruction of Earth's forests, and other land use changes have resulted in ever higher levels of waste in the form of greenhouse gases--as well as a diminished capacity of the planet to absorb and store those wastes. This means that to avoid catastrophic global warming and maintain the habitability of Earth by protecting essential soil and water resources, we will need to not only reduce emissions, but also increase carbon storage in the land system. Biosequestration and Ecological Diversity: Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Environmental Degradation discusses ways to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and build soil by changing the way people use and manage land.
Principles and Practices for Better Land Management
Examining biosequestration in social, economic, and political context, the book reviews recent scientific evidence on climate change and global ecological degradation and explains how the carbon cycle has been transformed by destructive land use practices, such as deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels. It describes the principles of biosequestration and restorative land management practices and discusses the potential of carbon storage. The author offers specific examples of inexpensive, proven practices that build soil, protect scarce water resources, and enhance ecological diversity. He also identifies conservation policies that provide technical assistance and financial resources for ecological protection and restoration.
How You Can Help Mitigate Climate Change with a Little Piece of Land
Restorative land use and land management practices are critical components of any comprehensive strategy for mitigating and adapting to climate change and global environmental degradation. This book explains how anyone who owns or manages land--from an apartment to a city lot to a farm, forest, park, or even a golf course--can help protect and enhance the biological sequestration of carbon.
Author Notes
Wayne A. White lives with his wife on an 80-acre farm in Jefferson County, Kansas, where they raise grass-fed beef, apples, pears, berries, biomass energy, and a variety of vegetables and herbs. He has a Ph.D. in sociology from Kansas State University, has taught sociology and political science, and has worked as a legislative lobbyist, grant writer, and program administrator for a statewide nonprofit legal services organization. White owns and cares for forest and grassland in Kansas, Michigan, and Ontario, Canada. His interests include forestland health, high-diversity native grassland mixtures, and land management practices that protect and enhance ecological diversity.
Table of Contents
Series Editor's Note | p. xi |
About the Author | p. xiii |
Acknowledgments | p. xv |
Introduction | p. xvii |
1 Global Warming and Ecological Degradation | p. 1 |
1.1 Emergence of the Anthropocene | p. 1 |
1.1.1 Ecological Constraints | p. 3 |
1.2 Climate Change as Context | p. 5 |
1.2.1 Climate Inertia | p. 8 |
1.3 An Overview of Climate Change Evidence | p. 9 |
1.3.1 Natural Factors and Denial | p. 14 |
1.3.2 Uncertainties Remain | p. 15 |
1.3.3 The Relative Impact of Natural and Anthropogenic Factors | p. 17 |
1.3.4 Long-Term Cycles and Rate of Warming | p. 19 |
1.4 CO 2 and Radiative Forcing | p. 22 |
1.4.1 Human Impacts Recently Overwhelmed Natural Factors | p. 24 |
1.4.2 Radiative Forcing | p. 25 |
1.4.3 The Paradox of Aerosols | p. 28 |
1.5 Climate Sensitivity: The Likely Extent and Rate of Warming | p. 29 |
1.5.1 The Uses and Limitations of Climate Models | p. 32 |
1.6 The Ecosystem Impacts of Global Warming and Related Ecological Crises | p. 35 |
1.6.1 Marine Ecosystems | p. 36 |
1.6.2 Terrestrial Ecosystems and Complex Ecological Interactions | p. 38 |
1.6.3 Ecological Change at the Poles | p. 43 |
1.6.4 Vector-Borne Disease and Beetle Population Explosions | p. 44 |
1.6.5 Biodiversity Loss | p. 46 |
1.7 Prelude to a Strategy | p. 49 |
References | p. 51 |
2 The Global Carbon Cycle and Terrestrial Biosequestration | p. 55 |
2.1 Terrestrial Ecosystems and the Carbon Cycle Imbalance | p. 55 |
2.1.1 Introduction | p. 55 |
2.1.2 Buying Time | p. 57 |
2.1.3 Adapting | p. 59 |
2.1.4 An Unplanned Global Geophysical Experiment | p. 60 |
2.1.5 Rate of Change | p. 61 |
2.1.6 Carbon Reservoirs and Flux: From Stability to Imbalance | p. 63 |
2.2 Enhanced Carbon Sequestration | p. 68 |
2.2.1 CCS Technologies | p. 68 |
2.2.2 Terrestrial Biosequestration | p. 69 |
2.2.3 Overview of Established Land Use and Management Strategies | p. 73 |
2.2.4 New and Developing Technologies for Enhanced Terrestrial Sequestration | p. 75 |
2.3 The Problem of Permanence | p. 83 |
References | p. 86 |
3 Terrestrial Carbon, Food Security, and Biosequestration Enhancement | p. 89 |
3.1 Land and Carbon Management | p. 89 |
3.2 Forest Biomes and Carbon Sinks | p. 92 |
3.2.1 Boreal Forests | p. 94 |
3.2.2 Temperate Forests | p. 97 |
3.2.3 Tropical Forests | p. 98 |
3.2.4 A Precarious Improvement | p. 100 |
3.2.5 Tropical Deforestation and Fossil Fuel Emissions | p. 101 |
3.2.6 Ecological Restoration | p. 103 |
3.3 Agricultural Land, Degraded Soils, and Water Scarcity | p. 104 |
3.3.1 Restoring Carbon to Agricultural Soils | p. 104 |
3.3.2 Cropland, Grazing Land, Water, Population, and Food | p. 106 |
3.3.3 Wetlands, Peatlands, and Aquatic Ecosystems | p. 114 |
3.4 Food Security | p. 115 |
3.5 Beyond Emissions | p. 118 |
3.6 A Conservative Estimate of Global Terrestrial Carbon Biosequestration Enhancement | p. 119 |
References | p. 122 |
4 Land Management Examples, Practices, and Principles | p. 125 |
4.1 Land Management for Carbon Biosequestration and Ecological Diversity | p. 125 |
4.1.1 Canadian Boreal Forest | p. 125 |
4.1.2 Northeast Kansas Grassland and Homestead | p. 134 |
4.1.3 Biofuels in Ecological Context | p. 140 |
4.1.4 Displacing Coal with Biomass Energy from High-Diversity Grassland Species | p. 147 |
4.1.5 Kansas Woodland | p. 149 |
4.1.6 Mature Lower Michigan Deciduous Forest | p. 157 |
4.1.7 Toward Grain and Oilseed Perennialism | p. 162 |
4.1.8 Food Production with Existing Best Practices | p. 166 |
4.1.9 Agroforestry and Reforestation in the Sahel | p. 171 |
4.2 Concrete Steps and a Vision | p. 174 |
References | p. 175 |
5 Conservation Policy and the Politics of Growth | p. 179 |
5.1 Conservation Assistance Is Available | p. 179 |
5.2 Societal Transformation and the Politics of Growth | p. 184 |
5.2.1 From Degradation to Restoration | p. 184 |
5.2.2 A Sense of Urgency | p. 186 |
5.2.3 Changing the Energy System and Infrastructure | p. 188 |
5.2.4 The Limitations of International Regulatory Frameworks | p. 191 |
5.2.5 Local Action and a New Relationship with Nature | p. 195 |
5.2.6 The Growth Dilemma and Globalization | p. 199 |
5.2.7 A New Economics and the Politics of Denial | p. 202 |
References | p. 208 |
Appendix A Measures and Conversion Units | p. 213 |
Appendix B Surface Albedo | p. 215 |
Index | p. 217 |