Global Warming: The Human Dimension. Focus the Nation Tulane University 31 January 2008

Transcription

1 Global Warming: The Human Dimension Focus the Nation Tulane University 31 January 2008 William Balée Professor of Anthropology Director of Environmental Studies Program School of Liberal Arts Tulane University

2 Global Warming and What We Know Greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere have been increasing significantly since about the beginning of the industrial revolution (early 1800s). That increase has continued even more significantly in the last fifty years. Most of the increase is due to combustion of fossil fuels. The increased levels of anthropogenic GHGs in the atmosphere will continue for a long time into the future regardless of what steps are taken now and in the near future to reduce anthropogenic GHG emissions. If vigorous and intelligent steps are not taken very soon to reduce anthropogenic GHG emissions, and the rate of increase continues unabated, environmental disasters in the mid to late 21 st century likely will result in the destruction of significant aspects of human civilization.

3 FROM THE GLOBAL TO THE LOCAL 10 25% of anthropogenic GHC emissions are from clear cutting and forest burning in tropical forests, and logging In Brazil and Indonesia, there was a 30% increase from 2001 to 2004, from 18,000 km 2 to 24,000 km 2 per year of rainforest removed: about 400 million tons per year of carbon going into the atmosphere (Santilli et al Climatic Change 71: )

4 Talking, Thinking, and Research Points There are 200 billion tons of carbon stored globally in tropical forest If that goes up, it s 1000 ppm carbon dioxide instead of instead of 500 ppm! Possible solution: Annex I countries (European Union now, US in the future?) could offer compensated reduction to Annex II countries see Flannery 2005, Santilli et al. 2005, DeFries et al. 2005

5 New Carbon Markets are Needed! We need to seek the creation of new carbon markets: there are emerging carbon markets. It s necessary to get these not just in the Annex I countries but also in countries with tropical grasslands and tropical forests (DeFries et al. 2005)

6 Who did it? Who s doing it? Is Man really responsible for changing the climate? IS THAT THE ENTIRE HUMAN SPECIES?

7 Subtitles of two important books on climate change are: Man, Nature, and Climate Change (Elizabeth Kolbert s Field Notes from a Catastrophe, 2006) How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth (Tim Flannery s The Weather Makers, 2005) Is the phraseology entirely accurate?

8 Tupi Speaking Societies of Eastern Amazonia, including the Ka apor

9 Ka apor Reserve Woods Hole Research Institute 2007

10 Map of the Ka apor Reserve

11 Small scale broadcast burning: slash and burn is it really that bad?

12 Ipomoea batatas Lam., the sweet potato

13 Ka apor swiddens of varying ages, in Brazilian Amazon

14 Indigenous Ecological Restoration, Ka apor Reserve, Brazilian Amazon

15 Simplified Model of the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis

16 Selective Logging, Ka apor Reserve, 2000

17 Problems with selective logging Forest fires include Selective logging destroys the understory and damages surrounding living trees and biomass creating a source of fuel for future wildfires in tropical forests

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19 Tabebuia logs confiscated from loggers at Xiepihun (new Ka apor village, August 2003)

20 Waldemar Ka apor (President of Indigenous Cooperative) and me, in his village, August 2003

21 Ka apor Curators and the Smithsonian Institution, 2003, preparing the National Museum of the American Indian, a stone s throw from Congress

22 Major forest fire, Western Amazon, 2000

23 Primary landscape transformation, by settlers on eastern edge of Ka apor reserve, 1980s

24 Map of the Ka apor Reserve

25 Ka apor Reserve from NASA Image, 1996

26 The Rule of Indigenous Environments Where there are indigenous peoples with a homeland there are still biologically rich environments. from Nietschmann, Bernard The Interdependence of Biological and Cultural Diversity. Kenmore, Wash.: Center for World Indigenous Studies.

27 Proof of the Rule of Indigenous Environments

28 Eastern Ka apor Reserve, early 1990s

29 The Kyoto Protocol and empowerment: tropical forests today contain 60 billion tons of carbon. Their local societies can be the real custodians of the forests they live in, benefiting the local scene (landscape) as well as the global scene (biosphere).

30 New Markets We need to seek the creation of new carbon markets: there are emerging carbon markets. It s necessary to get new markets not just in the Annex I countries but also in countries with tropical grasslands and tropical forests that harbor high species diversity (Annex II countries (DeFriest et al. 2005)

31 Northern Territory of Australia: Fire Management Strategies with Traditional Owners Source: TROPICAL SAVANNAS CRC, Darwin, Australia

32 Firebreaks in Northern Territory, Australia, by Tropical Savanna CRC with guidance from Traditional Owners

33 Traditional Owners and Tropical Savanna CRC Research Team: Cooperation for GHG Reduction

34 Soybean Production in Brazil, Foreign Agricultural Service

35 The possible problem of leakage: Soy production in Bolivia, 1971 to 2004 Source: Foreign Agricultural Service

36 Soybean harvest: mechanized agriculture

37 What do we know now that we didn t know before? Time is running out fast on tropical forests, species diversity, and climate stabilization. These phenomena are connected, and can be mediated in part, if anticipatory, vigorous steps are taken now.

38 Also, The global situation is connected to the local, and each influences the other. Creative research and implementation are needed in the formation of revolutionary, new ways of thinking about global and local markets and how to make them responsive to GHG reduction. Such responsiveness connects to multiple other desirable ends.

39 Sources Alencar A et al Carbon emissions associated with forest fires in Brazil. In Tropical Deforestation and Climate Change, eds. P Moutinho & S Schwartzman. IPAM, Environmental Defense. Washington, DC. DeFries R et al Monitoring tropical deforestation for emerging carbon markets. In Moutinho & Schwartzman, eds. Flannery T The Weather Makers. New York: Grove. Santilli M et al Tropical deforestation and the Kyoto Protocol. Climatic Change 71: