11/07/02 -- Scorched Earth: The Sky is Falling, Forests Are Ablaze

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FOREST CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY

Scorched Earth: The Sky is Falling, Forests Are Ablaze

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November 7, 2002

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Forests.org

Wildfires like those that ravaged Indonesia five years ago fuel

global warming by dramatically increasing emissions of greenhouse

gases. Tropical peat bogs such as those beneath much of Indonesia's

forests are among the planet's largest stores of carbon, containing

as much as 50 billion tonnes of carbon, the equivalent of eight years

of fossil-fuel emissions. This year burning peat bogs in Indonesia

are again releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the

atmosphere.

A new study in the journal Nature reports that as Indonesia's forests

burned in 1997, the smouldering peat beneath released as much as 2.6

billion tonnes of carbon into the air. That is equivalent to 40 per

cent of the global emissions from burning fossil fuels that year, and

was the prime cause of the biggest annual increase in atmospheric CO2

levels since records began. The study predicts that virtually all of

the carbon in these peat bogs could be released into the atmosphere

over the coming century.

Loss of natural terrestrial ecosystems (particularly forests in the

tropics and the World's remaining large, contiguous ecological core

areas) and unprecedented wild fire activity is a major - perhaps the

major - influence upon climate change (see recent Forest Blog by

Forests.org at http://forests.org/recent/2002/falodeve.htm ). The

release of massive pulses of carbon dioxide by the World's ravaged

forest ecosystems is resulting in a vicious cycle whereby increasing

temperatures and continuing fragmentation from poor land management

are making tropical forests more combustible. Atmospheric and

terrestrial ecosystems are in positive feedback which, if not met

with countervailing negative feedbacks, can only lead to a scorched

Earth.

Humanity needs and deserves a swift kick in the ass. The sky is

falling, forests are ablaze, and our existence is in question.

Remaining large primary forests must be maintained and protected from

burning, and carbon dioxide growth rates reversed. Under Kyoto and

successor international initiatives, countries should be allowed to

claim credits for protecting key carbon stores such as primary

forests - and particularly peat bogs. Indeed, the sale of forest

protection credits to polluters could finance conservation projects.

The current focus of "carbon credits" upon planting new forests to

soak up CO2 is misplaced. Nothing will do more to promote global

ecological sustainability than establishing international political

and financial mechanisms to strictly protect and begin restoring

large and natural forests and other ecosystems.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

ITEM #1:

Title: Burning bogs belch carbon

Global-warming models should account for peat in forest fires.

Date: November 7, 2002

By: TOM CLARKE

Wildfires in the tropics are spewing carbon dioxide and other

greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, a new study finds. They could

influence global warming, and look set to get worse.

Fires ravaging parts of Indonesia during the 1997 El Niño-driven dry

season pumped as much carbon into the atmosphere as all the living

things on the planet remove from it in a year. This is the same as

Europe's annual carbon emissions from burning fossil fuel, says

ecologist Susan Page of the University of Leicester, UK, who led the

study1.

"I was stunned," says David Schimel at the National Center for

Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, recalling how he had to

check the calculations for himself.

But another analysis backs up the results. Ray Langenfelds of the

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in

Aspendale, Australia, and colleagues measured trace amounts of other

fire-related gases in the atmosphere. They agree that a large part of

the pulse of carbon dioxide seen in 1997-1998 came from wildfires -

the largest being in Indonesia2.

Wildfires must now be factored into models of global warming, says

Schimel. Page's study will help scientists estimate how much carbon a

burning bog is putting out, compared with fires in other types of

forest.

For peat's sake

The powerful pulse of carbon came largely from smouldering peat

swamps, which are up to 20 metres deep in some parts of Indonesia.

Peat is compacted plant material preserved in bogs by acid. It is so

rich in carbon it can be used as fuel. Most of the burning peat in

Indonesia lost 25 to 85 centimetres of its depth.

Page's team worked in the Central Kalimantan province of Borneo,

where 8,000 square kilometres of swamp forest burnt. Fires covered

about 60,000 square kilometres of Indonesia's peat swamp overall - an

area twice the size of Belgium. This constitutes around one-third of

the archipelago's total peat swamp.

The release contributed as much as 40% to the largest annual increase

in carbon emissions since records began in 1957 says Schimel.

Increasing fossil-fuel burning and wildfires in North America and

Australia during this extremely dry El Niño year contributed to the

total.

Smoke signals

The 1997 El Niño was only part of the reason why normally fireproof

bogs turned into tinderboxes. "Peat swamps are under huge development

pressure," Page says. Schemes to convert bogs to farms are drying

them out by removing trees for timber and drainage.

As Indonesia develops its remaining peat bogs, the situation can only

get worse. And bogs like those which burned in 1997 still have life

in their embers, because the peat extends so deep. "There's at least

another ten fires left in many of them," says Page.Schimel is in no

doubt that human intervention is fanning the flames. "There have

probably been El Niños for millions of years and they haven't all

burned up."

References

Page, S. E. et al. The amount of carbon released from peat and forest

fires in Indonesia during 1997. Nature, 420, 61 - 65, (2002).

Langenfelds, R. L. et al. Interannual growth rate variations of

atmospheric CO2 and its d13C, H2, CH4, and CO between 1992 and 1999

linked to biomass burning. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 16,

1048,(2002).

ITEM #2

Title: Indonesian wildfires spark global warming fears

Date: November 6, 2002

Byline: Fred Pearce

Burning peat bogs in Indonesia are releasing massive amounts of

carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, in a repeat of the environmental

devastation that made headlines around the world five years ago.

Tropical peat bogs, such as those beneath the forests of Indonesia,

are among the planet's largest stores of carbon. They release much

more CO2 when they burn than when the trees that grow on them catch

fire.

Now a team of scientists from Britain, Germany and Indonesia has

reported that as Indonesia's forests burned in 1997, the smouldering

peat beneath released as much as 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon into

the air.

That is equivalent to 40 per cent of the global emissions from

burning fossil fuels that year, and was the prime cause of the

biggest annual increase in atmospheric CO2 levels since records began

more than 40 years ago.

Deep burn

The researchers calculate that, in 1998, the atmosphere contained

almost 6 billion extra tonnes of CO2, compared with an annual average

for the 1990s of 3.2 billion tonnes. Researcher Susan Page of the

University of Leicester estimates that the smouldering peat bogs lost

between 25 and 85 centimetres in depth.

Indonesian bogs burning during this year's El Niño are again

spreading smog across southeast Asia, says her colleague Jack Rieley

of the University of Nottingham. "The burning is likely to be around

40 per cent of 1997 levels, releasing up to a billion tonnes of

carbon," he told New Scientist.

Formed over the past 20,000 years, Indonesia's peat bogs are up to 20

metres deep. Huge areas have been drained for agricultural projects

in recent years. This leaves the peat dry and prone to fires spread

when farmers clear the forest, especially when the rains fail in El

Niño years.

In 1997, only 4.5 per cent of the pristine swamp areas burned,

compared with 70 per cent of swamp beneath fragmented forest, the

study found.

Carbon credits

As much as 50 billion tonnes of carbon is locked up in Indonesia's

peat bogs - the equivalent of eight years of fossil-fuel emissions.

Rieley predicts that it could all be released into the atmosphere

over the coming century, adding to global warming.

David Schimel of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in

Boulder, Colorado, says the study reveals how "catastrophic events

affecting small areas can have a huge impact on the global carbon

balance."

Rieley is now calling for an international effort to save the bogs.

He says the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which issues "carbon

credits" to countries planting new forest to soak up CO2, should be

extended to allow countries to claim credits for protecting key

carbon stores such as peat bogs. Selling the credits to polluters

could finance conservation projects, he says.

Journal reference: Nature (vol 420, p 61)

ITEM #3:

Title: Scientists warn of environmental danger of wildfires

Date: November 7, 2002

LONDON - Wildfires like those that ravaged Indonesia five years ago

fuel global warming by increasing emissions of greenhouse gases,

scientists said Wednesday.

The catastrophic fires in Asia destroyed forests and caused losses

estimated at more than $20 million.

They also released about 2.6 billion tons of carbon from smoldering

underground peat fires, which accounted for between 13 percent and 40

percent of the annual global production emitted by burning fossil

fuels such as oil, coal, and gas, according to the scientists. Most

of the carbon was in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), a major

culprit of global warming.

"It was the biggest fire catastrophe ever observed in that region,"

said Dr. Susan Page, of the University of Leicester in England, who

headed the team.

The scientists said their research highlights the fact that tropical

peatlands store huge amounts of carbon that will be released during

future forest fires and when land is converted for a different use.

"Carbon dioxide is known to be responsible for the global warming of

the atmosphere of the Earth. Recurrent fires have, therefore, the

threatening potential of making a very significant contribution to

this warming," Page added.

The Indonesian fires started mainly as timber and plantation

companies tried to clear land and then spread due to a prolonged

drought blamed on the El Niño weather phenomenon, a swell of warm

water in the Pacific Ocean that affects global weather patterns.

Page and her colleagues used satellite-based Earth observations and

field data to estimate the amount of carbon released by the blazes.

They said the research, which is published in the science journal

Nature, is particularly relevant because forests in Indonesia have

been burning during this year's extended dry season caused by a weak

El Niño.

"Most fires are started for land clearance purposes, but during El

Niño years they rapidly spread out of control," Page said.

The scientists warned that more fires will lead to higher emissions

of CO2 unless policies are changed to control land clearance by fire.

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