George
M. Woodell, ed., The Role of Terrestrial
Vegetation in the Global Carbon Cycle: Measurement
by Remote Sensing (New York: Wiley, 1984).
This
is another book produced by the SCOPE Project--this
time on how vegetation influences how carbon
cycles in the environment. The editor, George
Woodell, of the Ecosystems Center at the Marine
Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole Massachusetts
contributed the first chapter on "The Carbon
Dioxide Problem." It has been estimated
that since 1860, the amount of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere has increased 40-80 parts
per million. Today measurements show that the
amount increases 1-1.5 ppm annually. Where does
all the CO2 come from? It is the product of
a series of interactions between the atmosphere,
the oceans, the terrestrial biota and human
activities. Two important sources are: the combustion
of fossil fuels and the decay of biotic residues
(the most important of the latter being the
destruction of the forests.)
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