Biosequestration and ecological diversity : mitigating and adapting to climate change and environmental degradation / Wayne A. White.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

White, Wayne A.

Contributor:

CRC Press.

Series:

Social-environmental sustainability series

Social environmental sustainability series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Carbon sequestration.

Carbon cycle (Biogeochemistry).

Acclimatization.

Climatic changes.

Biodiversity conservation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (215 pages).

polychrome

Place of Publication:

Boca Raton, FL : Taylor & Francis, 2012.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Wayne A. White is a lifetime small farmer in Kansas. He is also a PhD sociologist and a technical writer, lobbyist, and administrator. In this book, he brings the attention of general readers, teachers, and policy makers to one very basic, very important problem. We are putting more carbon into the air, while we are removing the land's ability to take carbon out of the air. The result is that we are steadily destroying both our climate and our soil. The author has more reason than most to be aware that we need these things to live. In this book, he sets out with a steady, just-the-facts-ma'am attitude to show readers that these are indeed the facts, we need to do something about it now, and here's what we can do. Readers who do not share his optimism or his honesty are unlikely to be convinced. Readers who do will find a dry but very clear guide for understanding the process. White looks at how our current version of capitalism pushes people to increase short-term profits by taking long-term losses, and how the result is pathological growth that pumps out more carbon each year. He goes through how increased carbon in the atmosphere causes climate change, and the process of biosequestration, where soil and plant cover remove that excess carbon from the atmosphere. He describes how environmental degradation destroys the land's ability to take excess carbon out of the air, which accelerates climate change, which accelerates land destruction. Then he tells readers how they can fix the problem, using practical steps from slowing development to USDA grants to community organizing and donating to international farm microloan programs. It is all good advice, backed up by hard data. Its message is that saving the earth is the same job as good farm management. White knows that if we don't do the job we will starve. His frustration at the forces pushing people to squander their land inheritance is sometimes revealed in sections of global economic analysis. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

1 Global Warming and Ecological Degradation 1

1.1 Emergence of the Anthropocene 1

1.1.1 Ecological Constraints 3

1.2 Climate Change as Context 5

1.2.1 Climate Inertia 8

1.3 An Overview of Climate Change Evidence 9

1.3.1 Natural Factors and Denial 14

1.3.2 Uncertainties Remain 15

1.3.3 The Relative Impact of Natural and Anthropogenic Factors 17

1.3.4 Long-Term Cycles and Rate of Warming 19

1.4 CO₂ and Radiative Forcing 22

1.4.1 Human Impacts Recently Overwhelmed Natural Factors 24

1.4.2 Radiative Forcing 25

1.4.3 The Paradox of Aerosols 28

1.5 Climate Sensitivity: The Likely Extent and Rate of Warming 29

1.5.1 The Uses and Limitations of Climate Models 32

1.6 The Ecosystem Impacts of Global Warming and Related Ecological Crises 35

1.6.1 Marine Ecosystems 36

1.6.2 Terrestrial Ecosystems and Complex Ecological Interactions 38

1.6.3 Ecological Change at the Poles 43

1.6.4 Vector-Borne Disease and Beetle Population Explosions 44

1.6.5 Biodiversity Loss 46

1.7 Prelude to a Strategy 49

References 51

2 The Global Carbon Cycle and Terrestrial Biosequestration 55

2.1 Terrestrial Ecosystems and the Carbon Cycle Imbalance 55

2.1.1 Introduction 55

2.1.2 Buying Time 57

2.1.3 Adapting 59

2.1.4 An Unplanned Global Geophysical Experiment 60

2.1.5 Rate of Change 61

2.1.6 Carbon Reservoirs and Flux: From Stability to Imbalance 63

2.2 Enhanced Carbon Sequestration 68

2.2.1 CCS Technologies 68

2.2.2 Terrestrial Biosequestration 69

2.2.3 Overview of Established Land Use and Management Strategies 73

2.2.4 New and Developing Technologies for Enhanced Terrestrial Sequestration 75

2.3 The Problem of Permanence 83

References 86

3 Terrestrial Carbon, Food Security, and Biosequestration Enhancement 89

3.1 Land and Carbon Management 89

3.2 Forest Biomes and Carbon Sinks 92

3.2.1 Boreal Forests 94

3.2.2 Temperate Forests 97

3.2.3 Tropical Forests 98

3.2.4 A Precarious Improvement 100

3.2.5 Tropical Deforestation and Fossil Fuel Emissions 101

3.2.6 Ecological Restoration 103

3.3 Agricultural Land, Degraded Soils, and Water Scarcity 104

3.3.1 Restoring Carbon to Agricultural Soils 104

3.3.2 Cropland, Grazing Land, Water, Population, and Food 106

3.3.3 Wetlands, Peatlands, and Aquatic Ecosystems 114

3.4 Food Security 115

3.5 Beyond Emissions 118

3.6 A Conservative Estimate of Global Terrestrial Carbon Biosequestration Enhancement 119

References 122

4 Land Management Examples, Practices, and Principles 125

4.1 Land Management for Carbon Biosequestration and Ecological Diversity 125

4.1.1 Canadian Boreal Forest 125

4.1.2 Northeast Kansas Grassland and Homestead 134

4.1.3 Biofuels in Ecological Context 140

4.1.4 Displacing Coal with Biomass Energy from High-Diversity Grassland Species 147

4.1.5 Kansas Woodland 149

4.1.6 Mature Lower Michigan Deciduous Forest 157

4.1.7 Toward Grain and Oilseed Perennialism 162

4.1.8 Food Production with Existing Best Practices 166

4.1.9 Agroforestry and Reforestation in the Sahel 171

4.2 Concrete Steps and a Vision 174

References 175

5 Conservation Policy and the Politics of Growth 179

5.1 Conservation Assistance Is Available 179

5.2 Societal Transformation and the Politics of Growth 184

5.2.1 From Degradation to Restoration 184

5.2.2 A Sense of Urgency 186

5.2.3 Changing the Energy System and Infrastructure 188

5.2.4 The Limitations of International Regulatory Frameworks 191

5.2.5 Local Action and a New Relationship with Nature 195

5.2.6 The Growth Dilemma and Globalization 199

5.2.7 A New Economics and the Politics of Denial 202

References 208.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, FL Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: White, Wayne A. Biosequestration and ecological diversity.

ISBN:

9781439853689

1439853681

Publisher Number:

99962788764

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.