The windchill can make it feel like between -12 and -15 degrees Celsius in the east and southeast of the Netherlands this morning. The meteorological institute KNMI issued a code yellow warning, urging people to take extra care to avoid hypothermia and cold injuries.“In the wind, it can feel a lot colder than outside the wind,” the institute said.
The code yellow warning applies to Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Gelderland, and Overijssel until at least 10:00 a.m. After that, ambient temperatures should rise, the KNMI said. At -15 degrees, you risk hypothermia even in proper winter clothing. The meteorological institute advised locals to wear enough layers if they have to go outside this morning, and make sure their skin is covered. Stay out of the wind as much as possible. Tuesday will be dry, sunny, and icy cold. Maximums will hover around freezing in most of the Netherlands. Only the Wadden area may see thermometers climb slightly higher. The wind comes from the east and is moderate inland and strong along the coast and IJsselmeer. The icy weather will continue on Wednesday. From Thursday, cloud cover will increase, and with it, the temperatures.
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Typhoon Koinu was headed toward southern China and Hong Kong Friday after bringing record-breaking winds and leaving one dead in Taiwan. Typhoon Koinu, after initially weakening, regained strength as it headed west across the South China Sea toward China's Guangdong province, the China Meteorological Administration said. The slow-moving storm was forecast to remain at sea, bringing rain to China's southern coast through the weekend as it passes south of Guangdong and Hong Kong. The storm was about 240 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of Hong Kong and moving at about 12 kilometers (7 miles) per hour Friday evening, the city government's Hong Kong Observatory said. It issued a strong wind warning and forecast squally showers, heavy at times, in the coming days. Hong Kong was hit by heavy rains about one month ago that killed at least two people and caused widespread flooding. Ferry service was suspended in parts of Guangdong province, and the city of Guangzhou canceled some flights and trains. Koinu, which means "puppy" in Japanese, brought pounding rain and wind gusts Thursday to southern and central Taiwan, downing trees and damaging buildings. An 84-year-old woman was killed by flying glass in Taichung city and about 400 others were injured around the island, Taiwan's fire department said.
A weather monitoring station on Taiwan's outlying Orchid Island measured a gust of 342.7 kph (212.9 mph) at 9:53 p.m. Wednesday, as well as sustained winds that reached 198.7 kph (123.5 kph) at 9:40 p.m. The device measuring the wind speeds broke shortly afterward, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported. Klaus Schwab’s Daughter: ‘Permanent Climate Lockdowns Coming – Whether You Like It or Not’31/7/2023 According to Nicole Schwab, the COVID pandemic was a “tremendous opportunity” to test how the public would comply with the WEF’s plans to usher in their Great Reset agenda. The WEF’s promotion of the “climate emergency” narrative seeks to “create a change that is not incremental…to position nature at the core of the economy,” according to Schwab’s offspring.
Nicole Schwab made the admission in a newly unearthed video that was recorded during a WEF panel discussion back in 2020. The WEF lists Nicole Schwab as a “Member of the Executive Committee” of the WEF who is also the co-director of Platform to Accelerate Nature-Based Solutions & 1t.org. The group of WEF attendees were discussing how the fake threat of an “immediate emergency” can be used to further advance the WEF’s “Great Reset” plan for humanity. “This [COVID] crisis has shown us that first of all, things can shift very rapidly when we put our minds to it and when we feel the immediate emergency to our livelihoods,” Nicole Schwab declares. “And second, that clearly the system, I mean, you mentioned it earlier, that we had before is not sustainable.” “So I see it as a tremendous opportunity to really have this Great Reset and to use this huge flows of money — to use the increased levers that policymakers have today — in a way that was not possible before to create a change that is not incremental but that we can look back and we can say this is the moment where we really started to position nature at the core of the economy.” “Taking the point of view of business and economy and looking at where are there opportunities to create jobs and regenerate nature?” “And there are plenty of opportunities and this is again a mindset of actually innovation technology and a business growth can happen with a positive impact of nature and kind of laying out some of these examples.” “Regenerative agriculture is, of course, a huge part of that as well,” Schwab continued. “And one of the key reflection points here is also around engaging youth, and for me, it’s again, I come back to this shift in the mindset of the restoration generation can we conceive of ourselves as humans?” “I mean, you talked about a new humanity, I think you mentioned it right?” “Can we conceive of ourselves as a restoration generation?” “I think that’s where we need to go.” “I’m also hopeful that it’s possible, but I think it will take a lot of will, both political will but also in terms of the business actors, to break with business as usual but in a very serious way and to say we need to make very difficult choices.” “There are trade-offs but this is our chance and other, and this is about risk, and it’s about resilience because the shocks are coming are going to be even worse if we don’t do it now.” The WEF has been pushing the idea of “climate lockdowns” since Covid first emerged.In an article published by the WEF, the organization lauds how “billions” of people complied with Covid “restrictions.” The unelected organization continues by arguing that the public would do the same under the guise of reducing “carbon emissions.” Titled “My Carbon: An approach for inclusive and sustainable cities,” the article suggests that the same fear tactics could be used to impose further “restrictions” on the general public. The subject of the piece is how to convince people to adopt “personal carbon allowance programs.” Schwab’s group notes that improvements in tracking and surveillance technology are helping to overcome “political resistance” against such programs. “COVID-19 was the test of social responsibility,” the article notes. It continues by commending how “a huge number of unimaginable restrictions for public health were adopted by billions of citizens across the world.” “There were numerous examples globally of maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, mass vaccinations, and acceptance of contact-tracing applications for public health, which demonstrated the core of individual social responsibility,” the WEF adds. The organization goes on to cite how so many people complied with lockdown mandates, despite overwhelming evidence of the harmful consequences such restrictions had on society. The WEF then implies that the public would behave in a similarly obsequious manner in other areas of life. Japan can expect a freezing cold winter with lots of snow due to an apparent La Nina weather phenomenon likely to last until the season's end, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced on Nov. 10.
La Nina causes abnormal weather worldwide and occurs when a lower-than-average surface sea temperature is observed for a prolonged time in an area stretching from the Peruvian coast to the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean. With La Nina, the winter-type pressure pattern--high to the west and low to the east--becomes more intense in Japan, and tends to bring temperatures down due to cold air flowing in. One recently hit Japan from summer 2020 through the spring of 2021, resulting in temperatures tending to be lower than average across the country in the first half of last winter. Pete McGee BANGKOK, August 21 -- The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation on Wednesday warned of flash floods and landslides in 21 provinces in the North, the Northeast, Central Plains and eastern regions until Thursday. Of the 21 provinces listed as possible affected areas, certain districts in Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Nan, Tak, Uttaradit are particularly at risk from flash floods and landslides as a result of prolonged heavy rain, said department director-general Chayaphon Thitisak. The rain is the result of a monsoon trough in the Northern region and the impact from a southwest monsoon in the Andaman Sea and the upper Gulf of Thailand, according to the department. Emergency response teams have been put on round the clock standby in flood-prone localities in mountainous areas sucn as Nan province, according to Mr Chayaphon. Those living in low-lying areas are being advised to closely monitor weather updates throughout this period, he said. In the South, however, rice growers in Nakhon Si Thammarat are calling on the government to declare a new drought-hit zone, with about 10,000 rai of paddy fields having been totally destroyed by drought over the past few months. Chetsada Banchongsut, their leader, said he and other rice farmers in Chalerm Prakiat district had tried to fight the drought themselves and lost about 130,000 baht pumping water into rice fields to save their crops, but the drought lasted so long that they could not cope anymore. The farmers now want the government to help by declaring their damaged rice fields a drought-hit zone so they will be entitled to compensation, he said. Sa Kaeo governor Wichit Chatphaisit said the province is assisting about 12,300 families, who own 79,950 rai of paddy fields in five tambon in Ta Phraya district which have already been damaged by drought. Two large water pumps were sent to affected areas to draw water and supply the communities, said the governor. As of Tuesday, Sa Kaeo's irrigation project had about 76.43 million cubic metres of water, which is enough to supply tap water for the entire province for the next 160 days, he said. Pete McGee TOKYO, August 14 -- Japan's weather agency said Wednesday that powerful Typhoon Krosa is set to make landfall in the west of the country the following day, warning of potential record rainfall, mudslides and floods. Airlines and railway operators announced reduced services in regions near the storm's path, possibly disrupting millions of travelers returning to major cities following Bon holidays visits to their hometowns. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the typhoon, traveling at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, had weakened from the day before but could still dump around 1,200 millimeters of rain on some eastern and western areas facing the Pacific. Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. have decided to cancel a total of more than 300 domestic and international flights on Thursday. Low-cost carrier Peach Aviation Ltd. canceled 35 domestic flights on Thursday, as well as 13 international flights departing from and arriving at Tokyo's Haneda airport and Kansai International Airport. West Japan Railway Co. will suspend almost all of its shinkansen bullet train services. Services between Shin-Osaka and Kokura will be canceled, while those between Kokura and Hakata in Kyushu will be significantly reduced, the company said. Central Japan Railway Co., an operator of shinkansen services between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka, and Kyushu Railway Co. said they will also cut their bullet train services. Shikoku Railway Co. said it plans to entirely suspend services in its area on the western main island. The season's 10th typhoon with an atmospheric pressure of 965 hectopascals at its center was packing winds of up to 144 kph as of 9 p.m. Wednesday, the agency said. In a valley in Kusu, Oita Prefecture, a group of 18 people including children were stranded following the rise of a river, local officials said. Rescuers headed to the scene where the group was apparently at a barbecue, the officials said, adding there were no reports of injuries. The typhoon is approaching as Japan on Thursday will mark the 74th anniversary of its surrender in World War II, with memorial services including those in Ehime, Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Oita prefectures already canceled. The government will hold an annual ceremony at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, but many relatives of the war dead from the Kyushu and Shikoku regions will be unable to attend the event. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to Tokyo on Wednesday afternoon earlier than scheduled from his hometown in Yamaguchi Prefecture and attended a meeting on the typhoon with ministers at his office. Linda Kim BEIJING, August 11 -- Typhoon Lekima has left 28 people dead and 20 missing as it swept across China's eastern coastal cities, Zhejiang Radio reported on its official micro-blog account. More than one million people in Shanghai and neighboring Zhejiang province have been evacuated due to the storm, which has damaged more than 3,000 homes, China Central Television reported. Lekima, which made landfall in Zhejiang early Saturday morning, has weakened to a strong tropical storm, according to the National Meteorological Center. The center has downgraded Lekima to yellow from orange, and has an orange rainstorm alert. China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue. Lekima forced Shanghai to suspend services on several metro lines, according to the local government's official WeChat account. Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines were among those that announced flight cancellations, and high-speed rail services were affected in multiple cities, according to local media. Shanghai and Hangzhou airports are restoring operations gradually, according to Ctrip's flight tracking data and the local government. Taiwanese airlines cancelled about 520 international and domestic flights, according to local aviation authorities. Emergency units are working to repair roads, water and electricity, Global Times, a tabloid published by the Communist Party's People's Daily, reported on its Weibo account. Mainland China's main financial hub had braced for Lekima after the typhoon ravaged Taiwan and affected Japan. Government offices, schools and businesses, including financial markets, were shut across northern Taiwan last Friday. More than 50,000 homes lost power overnight last Thursday, though electricity was mostly restored by last Friday morning. Taiwan's Central Emergency Operation Centre reported at least one death and four injuries in the wake of the storm. At least four people were hurt in Okinawa, while flights and ferries across the southern Japanese islands experienced widespread disruptions, according to a report by the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said Lekima had sustained wind speeds of 184km per hour, with gusts of 227km an hour last Friday morning. Mr Scott Hsieh, a senior meteorologist at CWB, said it was the strongest typhoon in the western Pacific so far this year. Lora Smith KRASNOYARSK, August 9 -- Forest fires have swelled to 963,000 hectares in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Region, the regional Forest Fire Response Center issued a statement on Friday. The natural element's peak was registered last week when over 1.1 mln hectares were burning. "According to recent data, 118 forest fires engulfing 963,000 hectares are active in the region….. They pose no threat to residential areas," the statement reads. Most wildfires are reported in hard-to-reach areas where firefighting activities are launched upon the regional Emergency Management Commission’s decision. These fires have scorched 940,000 hectares. Firefighting activities in the region involve more than 1,300 personnel and over 100 pieces of equipment, as well as aircraft and helicopters. Forest fires in the Krasnoyarsk Region reached a peak last week, engulfing over 1.1 mln hectares. Ten of the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft were deployed to combat the blazes last Thursday. A state of emergency is still in effect. According to the regional Forestry Ministry, hot and dry weather, gusts and dry thunderstorms are the main causes of the wildfires. Lora Smith NEW YORK, August 8 -- Humanity faces increasingly painful trade-offs between food security and rising temperatures within decades unless it curbs emissions and stops unsustainable farming and deforestation, a landmark climate assessment said Thursday. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that efforts to limit global warming while feeding a booming population could be wrecked without swift and sweeping changes to how we use the land we live off. Its report on land use and climate change highlighted the need to protect remaining tropical forests as a bulkhead against future warming. But in a stark warning to those who may hope that vast reforestation and biofuel schemes alone can offset mankind's environmental damage, the report cautioned that these mega-projects could endanger food security, underlining that reducing emissions will be central to averting disaster. "This is a perfect storm. Limited land, an expanding human population, and all wrapped in a suffocating blanket of climate emergency," said Dave Reay, Professor of Carbon Management at the University of Edinburgh. Land is intimately linked to climate. With its forests, plants and soil it sucks up and stores around a third of all man-made emissions. Intensive exploitation of these resources also produces huge amounts of planet-warming CO2, methane and nitrous oxide, while agriculture guzzles up 70 percent of Earth's freshwater supply. As the global population balloons towards 10 billion by mid-century, how land is managed by governments, industry and farmers will play a key role in limiting or accelerating the worst excesses of climate change. LAND USE TO BE PART OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE EFFORTThe report says Earth's land surface area is a key part of the solution to reducing the risks from climate change. The land, from tropical forests and peatlands to desert grasslands, soak up large amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. It is part of a natural cycle in which carbon is produced and recycled by plants on land and organisms in the oceans as a way to regulate the climate. But large-scale burning of fossil fuels, such as oil, gas and coal, as well as clearing and burning forests, has distrupted the natural order, leading to ever greater amounts of CO2 that nature can no longer absorb, fuelling a warming world. The IPCC said the land should be part of any global effort to keep the world from overheating. "But keeping global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius can be achieved only by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors including land and food," the IPCC says. The report finds that there are many solutions to reduce the impacts on farmlands, including switching to less intensive cropping practices, ecosystem conservation and land restoration, reduced deforestation, cutting food waste and switching to climate-friendly diets. It says coordinated action to address climate change can simultaneously improve land, food security and nutrition, and help to end hunger. FOOD SECURITY"Food security will be increasingly affected by future climate change through yield declines -especially in the tropics - increased prices, reduced nutrient quality, and supply chain disruptions," said author Priyadarshi Shukla from India. "We will see different effects in different countries, but there will be more drastic impacts on low-income countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean," he said in a statement. The report also highlights the changes in diets in recent decades, where the supply of meat and vegetable oils has more than doubled since 1961 as well as the disparity between those with access to food and those who don't. There are about 2 billion adults who are overweight or obese, while an estimated 821 million people are still undernourished. "The conclusion that we reached from the report is that the land that we are already using could feed the world in a changing climate and even provide biomass for renewable energy and to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But it takes early and far-reaching action on several fronts," said Dr Andy Reisinger, an IPCC vice-chair and Deputy Director (International) for the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre. That included much better land management and careful planning on where to grow energy crops for renewable energy in a way that does not harm nature or threaten food security. "Land can't help us get out of climate change problems on its own. It has to be part of a broader mix. There are ways in which we could really make mistakes by focusing too much on land as a way to address climate change," he told The Straits Times. At present, between 25 and 30 per cent of total food produced is lost or wasted, the report says. LAS VEGAS, July 28 -- Although the insects that invaded Las Vegas this week are technically not locusts, the plague has still spawned terrifying Biblical references on social media. ‘Fear and Locusts in Las Vegas’ may have made a great headline for this article, but the winged loiterers that have flocked to the bright lights in Las Vegas are pallid-winged grasshoppers. Social media have been inundated with videos of the grasshoppers chirping around in the night skies above Las Vegas casinos. In one particularly fascinating clip, they were filmed flying above the Luxor Hotel's pyramid. “It was crazy. We didn’t even want to walk through there. Everybody was going crazy,” tourist Diana Rodriquez told a local TV station. The plague has been dubbed on social media the Great Grasshopper Invasion of 2019, while some people say it looks like something out of the Book of Exodus. According to entomologists, wet weather in the past several months is to blame for the scale of the invasion. "It appears through history that when we have a wet winter or spring, these things build up often down below Laughlin and even into Arizona," said Jeff Knight from the Nevada Department of Agriculture. "We'll have flights about this time of the year, migrations, and they'll move northward." He explained that such migrations are rare but not unprecedented, and that the insects don’t cause any harm to humans. The grasshoppers are expected to be gone in several weeks as they will continue to move to the north. Lora Smith ROTTERDAM, July 27 -- On Friday, more temperature records are falling in parts of Europe as the historic heat wave that brought the hottest weather ever recorded in Paris, London, Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany shifts northward. In a few days, the weather system responsible for the heat wave will stretch all the way across the top of the globe. It's what this system, characterized by a strong area of high pressure aloft — often referred to as a heat dome — will do to the Arctic that has some scientists increasingly concerned. First, Norway, Sweden, and Finland will be the focus of unusually high temperatures through the weekend, as a potentially record strong area of high pressure in the mid-levels of the atmosphere sets up over the region, blocking any cold fronts or other storm systems from moving into the area, like a traffic light in the sky. Temperatures in parts of Scandinavia will reach into the 90s or higher, on the heels of an intense heat wave in 2018 that led to an outbreak of damaging wildfires on parts of the region. Bergen, Norway, already set an all-time record high on Friday with a temperature of 91 degrees (32.8 Celsius). So far this year, Arctic sea ice extent has hovered at record lows during the melt season. Weather patterns favorable for increased melt have predominated in this region, and an unusually mild summer has also increased melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Unlike with sea ice melt, runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet increases sea levels, since it adds new water to the oceans. If the entire ice sheet were to melt, it would raise global average sea levels by 23 feet. Ruth Mottram, a researcher with the Danish Meteorological Institute, tells The Washington Post that as the high-pressure area, also referred to as a "blocking ridge," sets up over Greenland, it could promote a widespread and significant melt event last seen in 2012. During that summer, nearly all of the ice sheet experienced melting, including the highest elevations that rarely exceed 32 degrees. "... Assuming this comes off (and it seems likely) we would expect a very large melt event over the ice sheet," Mottram said via email. "This was a very similar situation to 2012 where melt reached all the way up to Summit station. As you have probably seen the Arctic sea ice is already at record low for the time of year so clearly we may be looking at a situation where both Arctic sea ice and Greenland ice sheet have record losses even over and above 2012 — though we won't know for sure until after the event." Zack Labe, a climate researcher at the University of California at Irvine who focuses on Arctic climate change, said the upcoming Arctic heat wave could have major ramifications and may push sea ice to another record low at the end of the melt season. "This appears to be a very significant event for the Arctic," he said of the upcoming weather pattern. "A massive upper-level ridge will position itself across the North Atlantic and eventually Greenland in the next few days. This negative North Atlantic Oscillation-like pattern will be associated with well above average temperatures in Greenland. In fact, simulations from the MARv3.9 model suggest this may be the largest surface melt event of the summer," Labe said, referring to a computer model projection of surface ice melt in Greenland. "Whether or not we set a new record low this year, the timing and extent of open water on the Pacific side of the Arctic has been unprecedented in our satellite record. This is already having significant impacts to coastal communities in Alaska and marine ecosystems," Labe said. Elsewhere in the Arctic, this summer has been similarly extreme. Alaska had its warmest June on record, and more than 2 million acres have gone up in flames across the state as a result of a long stretch of above-average temperatures. Arcticwide, an unusual spate of wildfires is burning, affecting vast stretches of Siberia as well. Smoke from these fires is circling the globe, tracked via satellite imagery. These fires are a positive feedback in the climate system, since they are emitting greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Lora Smith PARIS, July 24 -- The French capital is going through its driest period in almost 150 years and temperatures across Europe continue to reach extreme levels, leaving scorched fields and farmers frustrated by another spell of bad weather. In the east German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Christa-Maria Wendig is worried these once-rare droughts are becoming common. She plans to give up planting rapeseed in the coming months because of the dry weather and the heatwave stunted her ripening corn crop. 'Our ponds are empty and the meadows withered,' she said. As temperatures keep climbing across Europe this week, peaking on Thursday in Paris and London, the effects of extreme weather are becoming clearer. This summer has already seen raging wildfires in Portugal and Spain, falling water levels on Germany’s Rhine River and irrigation restrictions in France. Day-ahead electricity prices in France hit a five-month high Tuesday. In Paris, temperatures are forecast to hit 42°C. Electricite de France SA plans to halt two nuclear reactors at Golfech this week, as the Garonne river becomes too warm for cooling the plant. The company, which produces about three-quarters of France’s power, has said it will prepare nuclear plants to operate in more severe heatwaves in the coming decades amid a changing climate. In agriculture, the heatwave is having the biggest impact on corn fields, which are in a key growth stage. Yields will drop sharply if beneficial rains don’t arrive soon, said German grains handler Agravis Raiffeisen AG. Winter wheat and barley are already being collected and escaped most of the bad weather. Some farmers in France and Germany may harvest corn early as silage to build up their animal-feed supplies for the winter, rather than collecting the crops as grain to sell on the market, said Laurine Simon, an analyst at consultant Strategie Grains. Forage stocks are already low after last year’s drought, and Paris corn futures are up about 10% since late May. Pete McGee BANGKOK, July 22 -- The section of the Yom River that runs through the Sam Ngam district has run dry following months without rain, local officials said. The river has been reduced into a narrow and shallow waterway in the middle with sand dunes clearly visible along both banks. The remaining water is so shallow that the locals can walk across. Sam Ngam is located in the upper part of the province in an area that has suffered from drought for several months. GENEVA, July 5 -- Global temperatures could rise 1.5° C above industrial levels by as early as 2030 if current trends continue, but trees could help stem this climate crisis. A new analysis finds that adding nearly 1 billion additional hectares of forest could remove two-thirds of the roughly 300 gigatons of carbon humans have added to the atmosphere since the 1800s. “Forests represent one of our biggest natural allies against climate change,” says Laura Duncanson, a carbon storage researcher at the University of Maryland in College Park and NASA who was not involved in the research. Still, she cautions, “this is an admittedly simplified analysis of the carbon restored forests might capture, and we shouldn’t take it as gospel.” The latest report from the United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changerecommended adding 1 billion hectares of forests to help limit global warming to 1.5° C by 2050. Ecologists Jean-Francois Bastin and Tom Crowther of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and their co-authors wanted to figure out whether today’s Earth could support that many extra trees, and where they might all go. They analyzed nearly 80,000 satellite photographs for current forest coverage. The team then categorized the planet according to 10 soil and climate characteristics. This identified areas that were more or less suitable for different types of forest. After subtracting existing forests and areas dominated by agriculture or cities, they calculated how much of the planet could sprout trees. Earth could naturally support 0.9 billion hectares of additional forest—an area the size of the United States—without impinging on existing urban or agricultural lands, the researchers report today in Science. Those added trees could sequester 205 gigatons of carbon in the coming decades, roughly five times the amount emitted globally in 2018. “This work captures the magnitude of what forests can do for us,” says ecologist Greg Asner of Arizona State University in Tempe, who was not involved in the research. “They need to play a role if humanity is going to achieve our climate mitigation goals.” Adding forests wouldn’t just sequester carbon. Forests provide a host of added benefits including enhanced biodiversity, improved water quality, and reduced erosion. Estimates of how much forest restoration on this scale would cost vary, but based on prices of about $0.30 a tree, Crowther says it could be roughly $300 billion. Exactly how much carbon future forests could store may not be crystal clear, but Duncanson says NASA has new instruments in space—like the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) aboard the International Space Station—that will use lasers to create high-resolution 3D maps of Earth’s forests from canopy to floor. These data will add much-needed precision to existing estimates of aboveground carbon storage. “With GEDI we can take this paper as a stepping stone and inform it with much more accurate carbon estimates,” Duncanson says. “There have always been large uncertainties on large-scale carbon totals, but we have richer data coming soon.” Source: Science Magazine |
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