Nature’s sensitivity to climate change discussed at international conference in Finland
The Finnish Forest Research Institute, The Finnish Environment Institute and University of Helsinki are the organizers of the international ecosystems conference BIOGEOMON in Helsinki, from 29 June to 3 July 2009. This time the conference deals with issues like the sensitivity of nature to climate change on the global and regional levels, circulation of carbon, impacts of bioenergy production on nature, and interactions between forests and the atmosphere.
Biogeochemistry and ecosystems research play an important role in attempts to find solutions to today's urgent environmental problems like climate change, air pollution, and noxious substances in the environment.
Agricultural production will decrease, more forests will disappear in fire
"Climate change will have a decisive impact on natural ecosystems and on possibilities to maintain human life on earth. Scientific research shows more and more alarming impacts like the decrease of agricultural production because of extreme drought periods and floods, or deforestation because of more forest fires. At the same time there are many other adverse human impacts on nature, such as exploitation of natural resources beyond their renewal capacity, pollution, and deforestation”, says one of the main speakers of the conference, professor Wolfgang Cramer from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impacts Research in Germany.
New scientific methods and systems have been developed for assessing the relative significance of various environmental impacts and their mutual connections. Such information is needed for planning measures for adaptation to climate changes both in the global and in the regional scales.
We must maintain the carbon sink capacity of forests
In global scale, deforestation goes on, but the process has been slowed down in Europe, United States, and China. This will improve the possibilities of protecting the atmosphere through the carbon sink capacity of forests. More efficient protection of tropical forest in Brazil, Indonesia and Africa would further improve the chances of climate protection.
Forests reduce the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere in a natural way. In photosynthesis, trees take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and the carbon is stored in long-lived molecules like cellulose and lignin.
”Almost one half of our fossil emissions disappear into the carbon sinks of forests. It is important to guarantee that the carbon sink capacity of the forests will not decrease - which is unfortunately possible. We need more scientific research if we want to know how much carbon dioxide goes from the atmosphere to the forests of the world, and how these carbon sinks will develop in a longer perspective”, says one of the speakers at the conference, professor Pekka Kauppi from the university of Helsinki.
Sixth time, now in Helsinki
The BIOGEOMON 2009 conference gathers research scientists and postgraduate students from all over the world to exchange experiences, to set up networks, and to present their recent results within the fields of biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems research. The keynote speakers are among the most distinguished within their own fields. This conference is the sixth one in the series that started in Prague 1987. The next conference was held 1993 in Prague, then 1997 in Pennsylvania, 2002 in Great Britain, and 2006 in California. Some 400 participants from all over the world are expected to attend the conference in Helsinki.
More information:
Programme of the conference:
professor Martin Forsius, Finnish Environment Institute, phone +358 40 740 2364, firstname.lastname@ymparisto.fi
professor Wolfgang Cramer, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impacts Research, phone +49 331 288 2521, firstname.lastname @pik-potsdam.de
professor Pekka Kauppi, University of Helsinki, phone +358 40 760 5072, firstname.lastname@helsinki.fi
chief information officer Sirpa Pellinen, Finnish Environment Institute, phone +358 40 740 2754, firstname.lastname@ymparisto.fi
Lectures:
Martin Forsius:
6th International Symposium on Ecosystem behavior - BIOGEOMON 2009.ppt (2286 kt)
Pekka Kauppi:
Metsien elpymisen ja elvyttämisen mahdollisuudet hiilen talteenotossa ja varastoinnissa: Paljonko ja miten pitkään? BIOGEOMON.pdf (308 kt)
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