Adapting to climate change and combating climate change is a matter of nature conservation. But there is a UN framework convention on biodiversity, and there is a separate climate convention. Therefore, it is often believed that climate change and ecosystem services are significantly different.
(What are ecosystem services, we explained here and here).
In fact, these two issues are very much related. Our body also consists of 20% carbon, the bodies of plants consist of 50% carbon. And the soil layer, which is the remnant of all living things that lived on Earth, consists of more than 60% carbon. And so there is an indisputable fact: life on Earth and the remnants of life on Earth are the largest reservoirs of carbon. Coal and oil are also the remnants of living organisms. This fact must be taken into account.
I thank Oleksiy Vasylik, the head of UNCG NGO, for a wonderful explanation of the topic.
We cannot, of course, influence the natural creation of coal and oil deposits now. But we, humanity, can influence the absorption and retention of atmospheric carbon by ecosystems, according to what type of ecosystem is present in every country.
Let’s start with the explanations of forests, which scientists believe contain carbon. Wood, like grass, grows, increasing its weight. Plants accumulate carbon.
Suppose we do not remove the wood but leave it as deadwood in the forests. And, supposedly, we do not cut down forests when the trees are 30 years old (that’s when they can already be used for economic purposes). Then they will remain the perfect carbon storage!
Let’s say in other words: if governments do not cut down at least certain forests, they will not have to spend money on, e.g., reducing carbon in the atmosphere by technical means.
If forests are left old, they will have a lot of mass and biodiversity. (What is forest biodiversity, you can read in our article). That is, in addition to the trees themselves, there are other life forms that also contain carbon. There is a lot of deadwood, there is precipitation that forms the soil. There are still some, so far little studied, phenomena, such as wood hidden in the ground. It all deposits (or binds) carbon without releasing it back into the atmosphere. This is one of the main ecosystem services of forests!
Deadwood binds carbon
Deadwood forms new habitats for living organisms. It, depending on the species of trees, can be stored for a long time without decomposing (in Europe it is typical for such a species of trees as oak). For example, a typical European species, oak, lives a long time and accumulates a huge amount of carbon.
Farther to the north of Europe, the more countries in forestry norms allow leaving deadwood in forests. Sweden and Finland are examples of this kind of sustainable politics.
Peat and carbon
Burning peat is the same as burning coal or oil, that is, releasing carbon into the atmosphere. It is a natural storage of carbon, which holds 30% of all deposited carbon on the planet’s surface. It is necessary to stop the extraction of peat for burning. The use of peatlands for arable land is also completely meaningless.
The economy will not suffer much from such a refusal. And the replenishment of the atmosphere with carbon will be greatly reduced.
Why land use should be sustainable
All countries need sustainable land use. Arable land, which is plowed every year, produces 0.8 tons of carbon into the atmosphere from one hectare of land.
This proposal by nature conservationists is unpopular with governments.
If we completely abandon animal products because they are energy inefficient, but only use plant products, we still grow them. That is, everything we eat, we must grow. Therefore, it is not bad to grow and cultivate the land. Mankind became humanity because it learned to cultivate the land.
But it is time for governments to realize that this must be done in a sustainable way.
For example, earlier, in the 60s of the twentieth century, in the steppes of Eastern Europe there was 1.5-2 meters of humus (black earth). But the steppes had been plowed. And carbon was released into the atmosphere.
The steppes had a thick layer of turf, herbaceous plants on a surface that simply did not allow moisture. This is a simple mechanism. Humus accumulates because steppe grasses, which get very little moisture, form a dense turf, in order to absorb all this moisture when it finally rains. After all, maybe the next rain will be in a year. And so the moisture just does not seep lower than a thin layer of turf.
But in the steppes there may be fires, it is dry, and therefore all the biomass in the steppe is hidden in the soil, which does not decompose. And while there is steppe vegetation, it endlessly accumulates humus. And… surprise, it consists of 58% carbon.
Carbon is a by-product of the boundless accumulation of humus, the activity of steppe plants. But anytime the steppe was plowed, and the first rain began – soil organisms started actively decompose this fertile soil, releasing carbon into the atmosphere.
That is why over the past 70 years, one and a half meters of humus in Eastern Europe were actually emitted into the atmosphere. This happened not only in post-Soviet countries but everywhere where humus was plowed.
Perennial grasses can be a place for grazing animals, hayfields. That is, it is not necessary to impose a total ban on their use for the economy. The idea is different – if the steppes are simply not plowed, soil degradation will be stopped at least in the first stage. And still, it is necessary to deduce from cultivation all that is on a slope. These are the areas most affected by erosion.
Virgin and old forests in biomass contain carbon more than average. Therefore, what natural areas are still in their original state, governments must first preserve in order to prevent carbon emissions and climate change.
In those latitudes where there should be a natural steppe, the steppe will accumulate carbon, in those where there is a forest, the forest will accumulate it. These natural areas naturally bind carbon without any of our involvement. We just do not need to interfere with nature to accumulate carbon.
Do you like the article? Read our explanation of how tourists can thank nature for its free services.
