Study Shows US Contributing to Global Warming Problem
EarthVision Reports
03/21/00
CORVALLIS, OR, March 21, 2000 - New research has found that the US is producing more carbon dioxide than it is storing contradicting earlier studies that suggested the US was not contributing much to the problem.
The new study, which was published Friday in the journal Science, may have major implications for the US concerning its role in fighting global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. The study was conducted by scientists from the Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry in Germany, the Ecosystems Center at Woods Hole, MA, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO, and other universities and agencies.
The study says more carbon is being injected into the atmosphere than can be accounted for in the Earth's atmosphere, land, vegetation and oceans. Earlier studies indicated that this missing carbon sink was in the forests and changing land use practices in North America. A large amount of agricultural land is being converted back into forests in the US that tends to sequester carbon.
"On a global basis, we've estimated the missing sink of carbon at about 1.8 gigatons per year," said Ronald Neilson, co-author of the study. "One earlier study suggested that changes in the forests and vegetation of North America were sequestering an extra 1.7 gigatons of carbon. Some people pointed to that as evidence that the US had already done its part in the fight against global warming, that we were not contributing much to the problem."
The new research however suggests otherwise.
According to their research, the scientists have found that only .08 gigatons of carbon is being sequestered in the lower 48 states and that regrowth of forest vegetation would sequester no more than one or two times that amount. The study suggests that at least 70 to 90 percent of the carbon injected into the atmosphere by the US is either staying there or is being sequestered somewhere other than North America.
Although the US is contributing a major portion of the global total of greenhouse gases, the country has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol that calls for international cooperation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
"This study clearly contradicts the suggestion that carbon uptake in North America is balancing our carbon emissions from fossil fuels. We are still part of the problem," Neilson said.