publishedmedium:environmental research letters

Sun-dimming aerosols could curb global warming - CNN
▻https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/23/health/sun-dimming-aerosols-global-warming-intl-scli/index.html

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/181123110413-01-earth-satellite-file-restricted-super-tease.jpg

(CNN)Scientists are proposing an ingenious but as-yet-unproven way to tackle climate change: spraying sun-dimming chemicals into the Earth’s #atmosphere.

The research by scientists at Harvard and Yale universities, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, proposes using a technique known as stratospheric aerosol injection, which they say could cut the rate of global warming in half.

The technique would involve spraying large amounts of sulfate particles into the Earth’s lower stratosphere at altitudes as high as 12 miles. The scientists propose delivering the sulfates with specially designed high-altitude aircraft, balloons or large naval-style guns.

#climat #solutionnisme

New Paper Identifying Emerging Hot Spots of Deforestation | Blue Raster
▻https://www.blueraster.com/publication-emerging-hot-spots

Published in Environmental Research Letters, the study lays out the data-analysis workflow Blue Raster developed to identify trends in tree-cover loss in Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 2000 and 2014. Using Esri’s emerging hot spot analysis and big data analysis techniques, Blue Raster identified persistent, accelerating, and new hot spots of tree-cover loss, as well as cold spots of diminishing loss. New forest policies such as logging moratoria and incentives were linked with reduced forest clearing, whereas timber harvesting, road-building, and agricultural land clearing were associated with hot spots.

▻http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5a2f

http://cdn.iopscience.com/images/1748-9326/12/2/024012/Full/erlaa5a2ff1_online.jpg http://cdn.iopscience.com/images/1748-9326/12/2/024012/Full/erlaa5a2ff8_online.jpg

#forêt #déforestation #cartographie

First map of smallholder farms in the developing world: They produce more than half the planet’s food calories | ILRI Clippings
▻https://clippings.ilri.org/2016/12/13/first-map-of-smallholder-farms-in-the-developing-world-they-produce-

https://ilriclippings.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/16univofminnesota_mapofmeanagriculturalarea1.jpg?w=1200

‘Researchers at the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment (IonE), United States, have used household census data to map smallholder farms in developing countries.

‘Despite the fact that smallholder and family farms are crucial to feeding the planet, little is known regarding the location and size of smallholder farms. This study attempts to fill this knowledge gap.

‘The study was published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

Read the whole article at the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment: Researchers produce first-ever map of farming households across world, 29 Nov 2016.

#cartographie #agriculture #paysannerie

Amazon: 1% of tree species store 50% of region’s carbon
▻http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32497537

Sur deux #études_récentes :
1/

About 1% of all the tree species in the Amazon account for half of the carbon locked in the vast South American rainforest, a study has estimated.

Although the region is home to an estimated 16,000 tree species [cf. ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/197862 ], researchers found that just 182 species dominated the carbon storage process.

2/

Researchers suggested that global carbon emissions from forests could have been underestimated because calculations have not fully accounted for the dead wood from logging.

The study, published in Environmental Research Letters, found that dead wood could account for up to 64% of biomass. In untouched forests, dead wood made up less than 20% of the above-ground biomass.

[...]

"That such logged forests are not properly accounted for in carbon calculations is a significant factor.

“It means that a large proportion of forests worldwide are less of a sink and more of a source, especially immediately following logging, as carbon dioxide is released from the dead wood during decomposition.”

#forets #Amazonie

Global warming’s biggest offenders
▻http://www.concordia.ca/content/shared/en/news/main/stories/2014/01/15/global-warming-sbiggestoffenders.html

http://www.concordia.ca/content/shared/en/news/main/stories/2014/01/15/global-warming-sbiggestoffenders/_jcr_content/parsys/image.img.jpg/1389730011047.jpg

When it comes to global warming, there are seven big contributors: the United States, China, Russia, Brazil, India, Germany and the United Kingdom. A new study published in Environmental Research Letters reveals that these countries were collectively responsible for more than 60 per cent of pre-2005 global warming. Uniquely, it also assigns a temperature-change value to each country that reflects its contribution to observed global warming.

The study was conducted at Concordia under the leadership of Damon Matthews, an associate professor in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment. In a straight ranking, the U.S. is an unambiguous leader, responsible for a global temperature increase of 0.15 C. That’s close to 20 per cent of the observed warming.

China and Russia account for around eight per cent each; Brazil and India seven per cent; and Germany and the U.K. around five per cent each. Canada comes in tenth place, right after France and Indonesia. Although it may seem surprising that less industrialized countries, including Brazil and Indonesia, ranked so highly, their positions reflect carbon dioxide emissions related to deforestation.

Les #changements_climatiques : à la poursuite des coupables
▻http://www.concordia.ca/content/shared/fr/actualites/central/communiques-de-presse/2014/01/15/changements-climatiques.html

Montréal, le 15 janvier 2014 – Voici les sept grands coupables du #réchauffement planétaire : les États-Unis, la Chine, la Russie, le Brésil, l’Inde, l’Allemagne et le Royaume-Uni. En effet, selon une nouvelle étude publiée dans Environmental Research Letters, ces pays seraient collectivement responsables de plus de 60 % du réchauffement climatique observé jusqu’en 2005. En outre, pour la toute première fois, on a pu établir dans quelle mesure chaque pays est en cause.

L’étude en question a été menée à l’Université Concordia sous la direction de Damon Matthews, professeur au Département de géographie, d’urbanisme et d’environnement. Au classement direct, les États-Unis sont bons premiers, étant responsables d’une hausse de 0,15 °C de la #température mondiale, soit presque 20 % du réchauffement constaté.

La Chine et la Russie causent chacune environ 8 % du réchauffement ; le Brésil et l’Inde, 7 % ; l’Allemagne et le Royaume-Uni, 5 % chacun. Le Canada est en 10ieme place, après la France et l’Indonésie. Il peut sembler surprenant de voir au sommet du classement certains pays moins industrialisés, comme le Brésil et l’Indonésie. Or, ces pourcentages reflètent les émissions de dioxyde de carbone liées à la #déforestation.