Climate Change
Climate Change
A pioneering new 3D map of the Amazon rainforest reveals how much carbon is locked in the trees and then released into the atmosphere when they are destroyed.
The high-resolution map produced using satellites, airborne laser technology and ground studies - could help pave the way for an international scheme where countries are paid to prevent tropical forests being cut down or damaged.
Currently almost a fifth of annual global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation.
Climate change negotiators have been working on an international deal to slow global warming, including a UN proposal called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).
Until now, the proposal was hampered by the difficulty of figuring out exactly how much carbon is kept out of the atmosphere by trees and how much deforestation contributes to the greenhouse effect.
The ground-breaking new study, led by Greg Asner of the Carnegie Institute for Science, covered more than 16,600 square miles of Peruvian Amazon an area the size of Switzerland.
Greg said: "What we're showing here for the first time is an ability to not only map the carbon that is in the forest, but also use a technique that allows us to estimate the emissions. In terms of an international climate treaty, that's the big one."
The scientists also found that the paving of the Interoceanic Highway, combined with selective logging and gold mining, caused an increase in deforestation emissions of more than 61 per cent in the three years to 2009.
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