1-week and 2–3-weeks periods, respectively. In those regions, moderate temperature increase prevails mainly in 1 month and 1 and 2-3 weeks continuous periods.
Founda et al. (2019) also pointed that for the Eastern Mediterranean region,
under scenario RCP8.5 (AR5 Report), a marked expansion of hot extreme seasons
is a key feature of climatic change. This expansion at both ends was not symmetrical with advancements prevailing over the delay of the hot extremes. There
was also an earlier beginning of tropical nights, defined as nights when daily
minimum temperatures are higher than 20 °C, and of longer duration. The averaged
simulation across the regions indicated a likely extension in the hot extreme season
by about 1 month between now and 2050 and by about 2 or more months by the
end of this century. The projections showed higher increases for night-time hot
temperature extremes, due to the higher impact of greenhouse gases under conditions where the infrared radiation re-emitted by the atmosphere is the only energy
source.
8.7 The Potential of Biochar in the Modulation of Carbon
Budget and of Climate Change Mitigation
Biochar is a low-cost carbonaceous material obtained when biomass, such as wood,
leaves, straw of cereals, and manure, is pyrolyzed or charred at temperatures below
700 °C in a closed reactor under a low supply of oxygen. By mirroring charcoal,
one of the most ancient technologies, biochar can also be defined as “charcoal, from
biomass that has been pyrolyzed in a zero or low oxygen environment, for which,
owing to its inherent properties, scientific consensus exists that added to soil at a
specific site is expected to sustainably sequester carbon and concurrently improve
soil functions, under current and future management, while avoiding short- and
long-term effects to the wider environment as well as human and animal health”
(Verheijen et al. 2010). Biochar as a feedstock can also be defined as “charcoal for
application in soils”, being also conceptualized as the solid product of pyrolysis and
gasification of biomass and denominated as charcoal if derived from woody
biomass.
Biochar has been produced and utilized for thousands of years in soil management practiced by ancient Amerindian populations before the arrival of Europeans and to the development of complex civilizations in the Amazon Basin.
Certain dark Earth in the Basin or “terra preta” are associated with enhanced
sustained soil fertility (Lehmann and Joseph 2009; Lehmann et al. 2006).
In the Amazon Basin, large amounts of biochar-derived C stocks remain in these
soils today after hundreds or thousand of years passed after their abandonment, and
slash-and-burn practices have ceased in the region. In Amazonian soils, the total
soil C storage is about 250 MgCha
−1 m
−1 compared with typical values of 110
MgCha
−1 m
−1 in soils derived from similar parent material (Verheijen et al. 2010).
This kind of information allowed us to conclude positively about the huge potential
of biochar as an efficient tool for environmental management, which can be
300
8 Fundamentals of Global Carbon Budgets and Climate Change
Founda et al. (2019) also pointed that for the Eastern Mediterranean region,
under scenario RCP8.5 (AR5 Report), a marked expansion of hot extreme seasons
is a key feature of climatic change. This expansion at both ends was not symmetrical with advancements prevailing over the delay of the hot extremes. There
was also an earlier beginning of tropical nights, defined as nights when daily
minimum temperatures are higher than 20 °C, and of longer duration. The averaged
simulation across the regions indicated a likely extension in the hot extreme season
by about 1 month between now and 2050 and by about 2 or more months by the
end of this century. The projections showed higher increases for night-time hot
temperature extremes, due to the higher impact of greenhouse gases under conditions where the infrared radiation re-emitted by the atmosphere is the only energy
source.
8.7 The Potential of Biochar in the Modulation of Carbon
Budget and of Climate Change Mitigation
Biochar is a low-cost carbonaceous material obtained when biomass, such as wood,
leaves, straw of cereals, and manure, is pyrolyzed or charred at temperatures below
700 °C in a closed reactor under a low supply of oxygen. By mirroring charcoal,
one of the most ancient technologies, biochar can also be defined as “charcoal, from
biomass that has been pyrolyzed in a zero or low oxygen environment, for which,
owing to its inherent properties, scientific consensus exists that added to soil at a
specific site is expected to sustainably sequester carbon and concurrently improve
soil functions, under current and future management, while avoiding short- and
long-term effects to the wider environment as well as human and animal health”
(Verheijen et al. 2010). Biochar as a feedstock can also be defined as “charcoal for
application in soils”, being also conceptualized as the solid product of pyrolysis and
gasification of biomass and denominated as charcoal if derived from woody
biomass.
Biochar has been produced and utilized for thousands of years in soil management practiced by ancient Amerindian populations before the arrival of Europeans and to the development of complex civilizations in the Amazon Basin.
Certain dark Earth in the Basin or “terra preta” are associated with enhanced
sustained soil fertility (Lehmann and Joseph 2009; Lehmann et al. 2006).
In the Amazon Basin, large amounts of biochar-derived C stocks remain in these
soils today after hundreds or thousand of years passed after their abandonment, and
slash-and-burn practices have ceased in the region. In Amazonian soils, the total
soil C storage is about 250 MgCha
−1 m
−1 compared with typical values of 110
MgCha
−1 m
−1 in soils derived from similar parent material (Verheijen et al. 2010).
This kind of information allowed us to conclude positively about the huge potential
of biochar as an efficient tool for environmental management, which can be
300
8 Fundamentals of Global Carbon Budgets and Climate Change