New research shows forest fires are burning twice as much global tree cover as 20 years ago due to climate change. Resulting in blazes claiming an estimated three more million hectares each year – an area the size of Belgium – compared with 2001.
Forests around the Earth are transforming at a shocking rate due to climate change, with trees advancing into previously barren tundra in the north while perishing from excessive heat farther south, scientists have found.
It is apparent that more climate extremes are occurring. Earlier snowmelts in high-altitude regions, severe forest fires and rain pulses followed by dry periods are becoming the norm.
Human activities such as marsh draining for agriculture and logging are increasingly consuming saltwater and freshwater wetlands. These important areas cover only 1% of Earth’s surface but store more than 20% of all the climate warming carbon dioxide absorbed by ecosystems worldwide.
Researchers at the Institut de Ciencies del Mar in Barcelona have discovered that global warming is accelerating the water cycle, which could have serious consequences on the global climate system.
Wildfires in the expansive forests of Canada, Europe and the far Northern US could release an enormous amount of greenhouse gases between now and 2050, putting the world’s climate goals at risk.
According to new research, ozone may be a more significant greenhouse gas than previously thought. Changes in ozone levels in the upper and lower atmosphere were found to be responsible for nearly a third of the warming seen in ocean waters bordering Antarctica in the last half of the twentieth century.
According to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres the world is “perilously close to tipping points that could lead to cascading and irreversible” consequences. Many experts share this belief.
For the first time, researchers have detected short-term, regional fluctuations in atmospheric carbon dioxide across the globe due to emissions from human activities.
According to new research, the world’s forests play a far greater and more complex role in tackling climate change than previously thought, due to their physical effects on global and local temperatures.
