Forest Preservation, a big step forward.....REDD Plus

Forrest Dweller, Papua New Guinea

Oslo, Norway: $4 Billion has been pledged by wealthy nations to assist poor nations in preserving their forests. What is so encouraging about this step, is that wildlife will definitely benefit, regardless of how much impact it has on global warming.

As with most aid programs, the real difficulty will come with implementation, with making sure the funds are really effective in reducing forest destruction. "An agency monitoring the aid will be up and running before U.N. climate talks start in Cancun, Mexico, later this year...

The new monitoring agency would oversee individual agreements between countries to fight deforestation and educate local populations who live off forests — estimated at more than 1 billion worldwide — to do so in a sustainable way."

REDD Plus =  Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (title link is now UN-REDD)

Evapotranspiration and climate change

Evapotranspiration relates to plant physiology, and the latest on what it means for climate change is that with 2x CO2 levels, plants evaporate less water, and hence contribute less to cooling the earth than they used to, 25% less in the North America and Asia, according to the linked article. This was totally new to me, so I thought you might also find it new and interesting.

I have been working on a Himalayan post since returning from Bhutan, but it has turned out to be more complicated than anticipated, and spring bird migration/classes have also been consuming my time. Thanks to Bo and Gordon for keeping posts going while I was away. Bill