Role of Major Forest Biomes in Climate Change Mitigation …
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of agriculture and other climate-sensitive sectors in their economies, greater exposure to extreme events, warmer baseline climatic conditions, increased population
growth (Parry et al. 2001; Fischer et al. 2005; Cline 2007; Esperón-Rodríguez et al.
2016), lack of development to modern technology, inadequate and unequal access
to resources, political conflicts, etc. The effects of climate change would be disproportionate as poor people would be more vulnerable and they have less adaptive
capacity (Swart et al. 2003). However, poor people also contribute to climate change
as in many instances, poor farmers convert forests and marginal lands to agricultural
farms or plantations and they use inefficient technologies (Swart et al. 2003). At the
same time, farmers would be seriously affected by crop failures as well as shifting
patterns of the disease vectors (Morris et al. 2017). Moreover, increases in carbon
dioxide is known to have lowered the nutritional value in commercially important
crops such as rice, wheat, peas, soy and potatoes (Fanzo et al. 2018). This has a dual
impact as on one hand, the market values of these crops are affected and on the other,
the consuming population becomes undernourished. Socio-economic development
and climate change are intimately tied with each other as the former would certainly
lead to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the impacts of climate change on
agriculture, fisheries, etc. would also severely impede socio-economic development
(Swart et al. 2003). Climate change would also greatly stress the forestry sector,
which has a significant economic role, by causing decrease in wood quality, thereby
affecting the market prices of timber (Hisano et al. 2018). Furthermore, climatic
variability, alteration in air quality, prevalence of heat waves, spreading of vectorborne diseases, etc. may also seriously affect human health (Swart et al. 2003). Lack
of water supply or the availability of poor quality of water may lead to sanitation
issues as well (Fanzo et al. 2018). Therefore, the impacts of climate change affect
socio-economic development and vice versa and the effects are more pronounced
on the poor and the developing world. Increasing droughts and erratic precipitation
cause failure in crops is leading to modern day slavery in south East Asian countries.
5 Role of Forests in Climate Change Mitigation
Spanning more than 4.1 × 10
9 ha, forests constitute the dominant terrestrial ecosystems on our planet (Dixon et al. 1994; Pan et al. 2013; Hui et al. 2017). Besides
performing various ecosystem functions, forests act as refugia for several species
(Allen et al. 2010; Hui et al. 2017) and contribute on a large-scale to climate change
mitigation in a multitude of ways, both regionally and globally. Tropical forests
alone are known to harbor 50% of the 5–20 million species of plants and animals
on Earth (Lewis et al. 2015; Pravalie 2018). Forests are known to mitigate climate
change and global warming by a process called evaporative cooling (cooling of air
due to high rates of evapotranspiration), by altering the land’s surface radiation balance (via albedo effect) as well as carbon sequestration (Lewis et al. 2015; Pravalie
2018). Forests play a crucial role in maintaining the atmospheric moisture and regulation of rainfall patterns. The release of water vapour from the terrestrial surfaces are
495
of agriculture and other climate-sensitive sectors in their economies, greater exposure to extreme events, warmer baseline climatic conditions, increased population
growth (Parry et al. 2001; Fischer et al. 2005; Cline 2007; Esperón-Rodríguez et al.
2016), lack of development to modern technology, inadequate and unequal access
to resources, political conflicts, etc. The effects of climate change would be disproportionate as poor people would be more vulnerable and they have less adaptive
capacity (Swart et al. 2003). However, poor people also contribute to climate change
as in many instances, poor farmers convert forests and marginal lands to agricultural
farms or plantations and they use inefficient technologies (Swart et al. 2003). At the
same time, farmers would be seriously affected by crop failures as well as shifting
patterns of the disease vectors (Morris et al. 2017). Moreover, increases in carbon
dioxide is known to have lowered the nutritional value in commercially important
crops such as rice, wheat, peas, soy and potatoes (Fanzo et al. 2018). This has a dual
impact as on one hand, the market values of these crops are affected and on the other,
the consuming population becomes undernourished. Socio-economic development
and climate change are intimately tied with each other as the former would certainly
lead to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the impacts of climate change on
agriculture, fisheries, etc. would also severely impede socio-economic development
(Swart et al. 2003). Climate change would also greatly stress the forestry sector,
which has a significant economic role, by causing decrease in wood quality, thereby
affecting the market prices of timber (Hisano et al. 2018). Furthermore, climatic
variability, alteration in air quality, prevalence of heat waves, spreading of vectorborne diseases, etc. may also seriously affect human health (Swart et al. 2003). Lack
of water supply or the availability of poor quality of water may lead to sanitation
issues as well (Fanzo et al. 2018). Therefore, the impacts of climate change affect
socio-economic development and vice versa and the effects are more pronounced
on the poor and the developing world. Increasing droughts and erratic precipitation
cause failure in crops is leading to modern day slavery in south East Asian countries.
5 Role of Forests in Climate Change Mitigation
Spanning more than 4.1 × 10
9 ha, forests constitute the dominant terrestrial ecosystems on our planet (Dixon et al. 1994; Pan et al. 2013; Hui et al. 2017). Besides
performing various ecosystem functions, forests act as refugia for several species
(Allen et al. 2010; Hui et al. 2017) and contribute on a large-scale to climate change
mitigation in a multitude of ways, both regionally and globally. Tropical forests
alone are known to harbor 50% of the 5–20 million species of plants and animals
on Earth (Lewis et al. 2015; Pravalie 2018). Forests are known to mitigate climate
change and global warming by a process called evaporative cooling (cooling of air
due to high rates of evapotranspiration), by altering the land’s surface radiation balance (via albedo effect) as well as carbon sequestration (Lewis et al. 2015; Pravalie
2018). Forests play a crucial role in maintaining the atmospheric moisture and regulation of rainfall patterns. The release of water vapour from the terrestrial surfaces are