As global temperature has risen 0.8 degrees since the late 19th century and we have had 10 warmest years since 1990, with 2001-2007 being 7 of the 8 warmest years on record and Carbon dioxide CO2 has increased by more than 25% since 1700 (pers comm. Peter Cox, Exeter University), now is the time to act.
If we don’t, then we may not be in a position to act in 10-15 years time - when we really need to. This is because Climate has memory and it is on a track to increase temperatures between 2 and 6 degrees by 2050. So, it will be approximately 10-15 years before our current actions are felt- this therefore means that we need to start acting to determine climate in 15 years time.
What we need to do
1)Active management and reforesting – will tie up CO2, as only actively growing trees take in CO2. When they stop growing, they stop taking in CO2 We should therefore increase our managed woodland cover as much as possible.
2) Stop deforesting- Global warming is accelerated by destruction of tropical rainforests- which is happening at an alarming rate- More than ½ the world’s biodiversity is stored in these rainforests and when they are cut down all those plant, animals and insects are lost forever. These are a vital biodiversity resource for future generations and research and should not be destroyed. Also, the total removal of tropical rainforest is increasing the release of CO2 into the atmosphere and speeding up global warming- so this really needs to stop now.
Avoiding deforestation could save 20% of CO2 emissions and protect ½ the world plant and animal species. Reforestation also has a slowing down effect on global warming.
Whatever we start doing now will directly affect the kind of world our children live in; plus, their ability to have an effect on the sort of world that they live in.
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