THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2008
NEWS
ENVIRONMENT
3A
Amazon could answer climate questions
MICHAEL ASTOR
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
An unidentified man cuts down a tree in a forest in Ikon, Nigeria, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007. From Brazil, to central Africa, to once-lush islands in Asia's archipelagos, human encroachment is shrinking the world's rainforests.
MANAUS, Brazil — Julio Tota stood atop a 195-foot steel tower in the heart of the Amazon rain forest, watching "rivers of air" flowing over an unbroken green canopy that stretched as far as the eve could see.
Instead, they hover and drift — confounding scientific efforts to unlock the secrets of the world's largest remaining tropical wilderness.
These billows of fog showed researcher Tota how greenhouse gases emitted by decaying organic material on the forest floor don't rise straight into the atmosphere, as scientists had supposed.
"What we've learned is the Amazon rain forest is much more fragile and much more complex than we had first imagined." Tota said. "My research is pretty specific, it's aimed at showing why all our measurements are probably off."
Tota is part of the Large Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Experiment, a decade-old endeavor involving hundreds of scientists, led by Brazilians and with funding from NASA and the European Union. Their open-air "laboratories" are 15 such observation posts spread over an area of rain forest larger than Europe.
The project's goal is to make the best scientific arguments for why this vast rain forest — along with other endangered forests in Africa, southeast Asia and elsewhere — is essential to combating global climate change.
But as the first phase of the $100 million experiment draws to a close, its researchers acknowledge that the data have raised more questions than answers.
Scientists can now say with certainty that the Amazon is neither the lungs of the Earth, nor the planet's air conditioner. Paradoxically, the forest's cooling vapors also trap heat, by reflecting it back toward Earth in much the same way greenhouse gases do.
But a key question remains unanswered: Does the Amazon work as a net carbon "sink," absorbing carbon dioxide, or is it adding more CO2 to the atmosphere than it is subtracting, because of burning and other deforestation that have claimed an average 8,000 square miles — an area the size of Israel or New Jersey — each year of the past decade?
Scientists also can't predict every way in which continued destruction of the Amazon — for timber, for cattle ranching, for soybean farming — might affect global climate. But it will almost certainly lead to drier conditions over a wide area, since ground moisture taken up and evaporated through trees is recycled as rainfall.
Some computer simulations suggest deforestation could cause droughts as far afield as the U.S. grain belt, apparently because chain reactions in the atmosphere would shift the Polar Jet Stream and the precipitation it brings.
These questions take on new urgency as global warming's effects become ever more apparent, and as forests fall at a nonstop pace. In one sign of growing concern, Brazil's national leadership met in emergency session on Jan. 24 to deal with a sudden surge in deforestation after a three-year slowdown.
New studies suggest the Amazon may be approaching a tipping point, at which the drier conditions caused by deforestation will reduce rainfall enough to transform the humid tropical forest into a giant savanna.
If preserving the 80 percent of the Amazon still standing would help offset some greenhouse emissions, destroying it would almost certainly accelerate global warming by releasing perhaps 100 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere — equal to some 10 years' worth of total global emissions.
"If you cut down all the tropical forests in the world, you may increase CO2 concentrations by 25 percent," said Brazilian climatologist Carlos Alberto Nobre.
Deforestation — both the burning and rotting of wood in the Amazon — already releases an estimated 400 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, accounting for up to 80 percent of Brazil's greenhouse gases, boosting this country to sixth place or higher among emitter nations.
By contrast, each acre of rain forest that remains intact takes somewhere between 80 and 480 pounds of carbon out of the atmosphere
each year through the process of photosynthesis.
The uncertainty in that range hints at the unknowns still puzzling researchers. In the next phase of the grand Amazon experiment, two airplanes will measure emissions higher in the atmosphere to try to answer definitively whether the rain forest absorbs more carbon than it produces.
INTERNATIONAL Israeli leader decides to remain in government
remain in government
JERUSALEM — Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday he would not leave Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government because of its handling of the 2006 war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, but would stay on to redress the problems in the military that the fighting exposed.
Barak's announcement at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting removed any immediate threat to the survival of Olmert's government as it pursues its declared goal of signing a peace treaty with the Palestinians this year. Barak had said before joining the coalition in June that he would push for Olmert's resignation or early elections after a war inquiry delivered its final report.
The report, delivered last Wednesday, left Olmert relatively unscathed, but criticized the government and the army for "serious failings and flaws."
"Why am I staying! I'm staying in the post of defense minister because I know what kind of challenges face Israel — Gaza, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, the rehabilitation of the military and the political process?" Barak said.
If Barak were to have pulled Labor's 19-member faction out of the coalition, Olmert would have been stripped of his parliamentary majority and likely forced to call an election. His coalition now controls 67 of parliament's 120 seats.
But with Labor trailing badly in public opinion polls, Barak apparently decided his party's political fortunes — and his own — would be better served by remaining in the government.
STATE Boy missing from home where two were shot
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY Kan. — Police in Kansas City, Kan., are searching for a 3-year-old boy taken from
a home where a mother and an infant girl were found shot to death Sunday morning.
Seth Guerrero is missing and believed to be with his father. Andrew Anthony Guerrero, a 23-year-old described by police as a person of interest in the deaths.
Seth is a Hispanic male, with brown hair and brown eyes. He is 3 feet tall and weighs 45 pounds.
Neighbors say the woman worked at the library and had lived at the home for two years.
Officers were called to the home around 11 a.m., when they found a woman in her 20s and an infant girl dead. Two cars were missing from the home, but a 2004 silver Nissan truck was later found. A 2004 silver Saturn SUV is still missing.
Associated Press
NATIONAL Husband says the devil caused his wife to die
ODESA, Texas — A man accused of killing his wife says he was trying to exorcise a demon from her when the devil entered his body and caused her to die, according to a police probable cause statement.
Jan David Clark, 60, was arrested Friday after authorities went to his home and found Susan Kay Clark's body wrapped in a bed sheet with a cross and sword on top of it.
Officers had gone to the home after being told that Clark had called a friend and said his 59-year-old wife was dead, said Sgt. Gary Duesler said the Ector County Sheriff's Office.
Clark told investigators he had his wife pinned face down on a carpeted floor when she died.
Clark was charged with murder and remained in the Ector County jail on Sunday in lieu of $300,000 bail.
The woman's body was taken to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
Associated Press
PAID FOR BY KU
Asian New Year (TET) Saturday, February 16, 2008
7:00pm • Kansas Union Ballroom
Explore Asian-American culture's official 2008 Lunar New Year's festivity Traditional performances, skits, and fashion trends will be introduced. Lucky money will be passed to audience members All you can eat Vietnamese food served for FREE before the show at the ECM (Ecumenical Christian Ministries--across the street from Yello Sub)
FREE Admission, so invite all your family and friends! If you have any questions, please contact our Facebook organization: KU VSA 2007-2008 or duytbui@ku.edu
KU Finance Club
1st meeting of the semester : Thursday, Jan. 31st 6:00-7:30 pm • 427 Summerfield
Featuring representatives of Deutsche Bank's NY-based Mergers & Acquisitions group John Collett, Chief Operating Officer Nancy Romatzick, Associate Dan Park, Associate Scott.Bouska, Analyst (KU Business Alum, May 2006) * Pizza and drinks will be provided *
Looking to volunteer? Center for Community Outreach can help!
Center for Community Outreach
We have 15 volunteer programs working throughout Lawrence and can connect you to many local programs.
Contact us!
405 Kansas Union (in the SILC office)
864-4073 • cco@ku.edu
www.ku.edu/~cco
iHuman. the life of david
Wesley tuesdays @ 8 smith hall weslevku.org
KU Hillel and the KU Center for Sustainability are hosting a roundtable discussion on the 31st in conjunction with a nation-wide event called Focus the Nation. The subject of the discussion is climate change policy responses at various levels of government. Scheduled panelists include: Provost Richard Lariviere, Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, state Senators and Representatives, and Mayor Sue Hack. The discussion will be moderated by award winning journalist and NBC Environmental Correspondent Simran Sethi.
Focus the Nation
Come Join the discussion at the Dole Institute of Politics, Thursday January 31st from 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Do you want to join a club
or be a leader in a global organization? AIESEC is the world's largest student-based organization spanning over 100
AIESEC is the world's largest student-based organization spanning over 100 countries and 800 universities. AIESEC believes individuals should look for opportunities to build their global network, expand their worldview, and gain leadership skills. We believe individuals should use their leadership skills and a global perspective to increase international understanding and cooperation. Our belief is that if large numbers of individuals were to act in this way, it could be a solution to a more secure and peaceful world. By participating in AIESEC U.S., you will have the opportunity to: Apply for our high-quality international traineeship exchange program. Seek experiences that enable you to lead with a global perspective in AIESEC's diverse environment. Acquire practical, hands-on professional skills. Join a global network of people from over 90 countries. Expand your worldview by interacting with people from all over the world and gaining new perspectives on global issues. Check out our Info Sessions At the Kansas Union: Tuesday, January 29, 3:00 in the Kansas Room Wednesday, January 30th, 7:00 in Alderson Auditorium Tuesday, February 5th, 7:00 in the Walnut Room Or contact Katelyn, at aieseckansas.pr@gmail.com
Register to Vote!
All week from 10am-1pm • 4th Floor KS Union
Don't know where to Caucus?
What: Democratic Caucus
When: February 5th 2008 @ 6pm
If your state senator is Marci Francisco and you line in U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore's district, you'll caucus at Liberty Hall, 642 Mass If your state senator is Marci Francisco and you life in Nancy Boyda's disctrict, you'll caucus at Abe & Jake's Landing, 8 E. 6th St. If your state senator is Roger Pine, you'll caucus at the National Guard's Metcalf Memorial Armory, 200 South Iowa St. If you are not sure what district you are in go to www.govtrack.us Brought to you by the Student Legislative Awareness Board