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“This was totally surprising to us and alarming to our colleagues,
especially those interested in conservation, climate change and the
ability of governments like Brazil to enforce environmental laws,” he
notes.
“When a tree trunk is removed, the crown, wood debris and vines are
left behind to decompose, releasing carbon dioxide gas into the
atmosphere,” Asner says. “Sawmills often have an efficiency level of
about 30 to 40 percent, so large amounts of sawdust and scrap also
decompose into atmospheric CO2.”
An estimated 400 million tons of carbon enter the atmosphere every
year as a result of traditional deforestation in the Amazon, and
Asner and his colleagues estimate that an additional 100 million tons
is produced by selective logging. “That means up to 25 percent more
greenhouse gas is entering the atmosphere than was previously
assumed,” Asner explains, a finding that could alter climate change
forecasts on a global scale.
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Phys0rg.com
Science Physics Tech Nano News
October 21, 2005
Selective Logging Causes Widespread Destruction Of Brazil’s Amazon: Study
http://www.physorg.com/news7448.html
Selective logging – the practice of removing one or two trees and
leaving the rest intact – is often considered a sustainable
alternative to clear-cutting, in which a large swath of forest is cut
down, leaving little behind except wood debris and a denuded
landscape.
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