Forest Fires Could Release More Greenhouse Gas than All of Europe
10/16/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Forest Fires Could Release More Greenhouse Gas than All of
Europe
Source: Agence France-Presse
Date: 10/16/97
Copyright 1997 by Agence France-Presse
LONDON, Oct 16 (AFP) - Indonesian peat bogs set alight by the
country's raging forest fires could release more carbon dioxide
greenhouse gas into the atmosphere over the next six months than all
the power stations and cars in western Europe emit in a year, a
report said here Thursday
The finding, from researchers in Britain, France and the US,
backs claims that the fires could have a significant impact on
global warming, said New Scientist magazine.
Jack Rieley, a peat bog specialist at the University of
Nottingham in northern England, has calculated that if the bogs
continue to burn for six months they will release a billion tonnes
of carbon dioxide.
Western Europe's emissions are below 900 million tonnes a year,
the weekly noted.
Satellite images suggest that the fires on the islands of Borneo
and Sumatra have affected about a million hectares (2.5 million
acres) of peat bogs.
Rieley told New Scientist magazine the problem would become
worse if the fires established themselves within the peat.
And Richard Lindsay, of the University of East London, and
secretary of the International Mire Conservation Group, said: "If
the fire gets deep into the peat, it could smoulder for several
years."
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