Degeneration of Amazon forests adds to global warming

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Thomas Goreau

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Oct 16, 2017, 8:38:41 AM10/16/17
to Soil Age
Some more great observations on how degradative land management increases global warming, by my old friend in Amazonia in the 1980s, Antonio Donato Nobre:


Only regenerative forestry can turn these losses into gains!

Thomas J. F. Goreau, PhD
President, Global Coral Reef Alliance
President, Biorock Technology Inc.
Coordinator, Soil Carbon Alliance
Coordinator, United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development Small Island Developing States Partnership in New Sustainable Technologies
37 Pleasant Street, Cambridge, MA 02139

Books:

Geotherapy: Innovative Methods of Soil Fertility Restoration, Carbon Sequestration, and Reversing CO2 Increase

Innovative Methods of Marine Ecosystem Restoration

The Green Disc, New Technologies for a New Future: Innovative Methods for Sustainable Development

No one can change the past, everyone can change the future

When lies trump truth, the dark ages begin

Albert Bates

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Oct 16, 2017, 10:02:22 AM10/16/17
to Thomas Goreau, Soil Age
Thanks for this Tom. When I read:

Antonio Donato Nobre, a visiting researcher at INPE, calls this hidden
damage the Big Green Lie: “This wholesale forest degradation is not
monitored and it affects massive areas, many times larger than those
clear-felled in deforestation. Such degraded forests are very vulnerable
to drought and fires. Indeed, it is the main reason why the fires spread
so easily”.

... it commends the need for forestry wastes-to-biochar projects, both
to eliminate the fuel for wildfire and also to restore the soil biology,
retain soil moisture and aid the successional recovery.

Thanks again,

Albert

On 2017-10-16 07:38, Thomas Goreau wrote:
> Some more great observations on how degradative land management
> increases global warming, by my old friend in Amazonia in the 1980s,
> Antonio Donato Nobre:
>
> http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/46318-record-amazon-fires-stun-scientists-sign-of-sick-degraded-forests
>
> Only regenerative forestry can turn these losses into gains!
>
> Thomas J. F. Goreau, PhD

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Thomas Goreau

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Oct 16, 2017, 10:28:52 AM10/16/17
to Albert Bates, Soil Age, Antonio Donato Nobre, Foster Brown, Joanna Campe, Suzi Huff Theodoro, Tom Newmark, Larry Kopald, Ronnie Cummins, Andre Leu, William, Beata Emoke Madari, Othon Henry Leonardos, Claudia Maria Branco De F Maia, Marcia Thais de Melo Carvalho - Embrapa Arroz e Feijao - CNPAF, fabiana...@embrapa.br, Etelvino Henrique Novotny, deborah dick, MELLISSA ANANIAS SOLER DA SILVA
Regenerative forest management is much more than just planting seeds or seedlings. It means regenerating soil fertility and its natural biological recycling mechanisms.

Biochar is often present in these degraded forests because of forest fires, and even more so in the pastures, which are cleared by burning felled forests, leaving about 10 cm of ash and char on the soil surface into which pasture seed is planted. 

Regeneration of soil fertility needs much more than carbon though, it needs 20 or so other elements that can only come from weathering of rocks, and which are in very short supply in the highly leached and infertile Amazonian soils. One application of basalt powder can provide all the elements needed except nitrogen, and it is released in slow form that lasts for decades or centuries, as shown by foresters in Czechoslovakia and German nearly a century ago. 

Regenerating the soil fertility is the essential step needed to convert CO2 degradation sources into CO2 regenerative sinks, and regenerative forest management will be as important a tool as regenerative agriculture, regenerative pastures, and regenerative marine ecosystems.

Brazil is the world’s leader in use of rock powder as a slow release natural agricultural fertilizer, and is also the leader in Biochar. Now they need to apply their methods together to pastures and forests as well as crops!


Thomas J. F. Goreau, PhD
President, Global Coral Reef Alliance
President, Biorock Technology Inc.
Coordinator, Soil Carbon Alliance
Coordinator, United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development Small Island Developing States Partnership in New Sustainable Technologies
37 Pleasant Street, Cambridge, MA 02139

Books:

Geotherapy: Innovative Methods of Soil Fertility Restoration, Carbon Sequestration, and Reversing CO2 Increase

Innovative Methods of Marine Ecosystem Restoration

The Green Disc, New Technologies for a New Future: Innovative Methods for Sustainable Development

No one can change the past, everyone can change the future

When lies trump truth, the dark ages begin

Benoit Lambert

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Oct 16, 2017, 11:43:01 AM10/16/17
to Soil Age, Thomas Goreau
Thank you Thomas,
Biochar is indeed mimicking nature. Recent (impressive) results in Nepal by Hans-Peter Schmidt's team, show we don't need to use that much. Which makes biochar more affordable (article attached). Also: we see biochar in soils when reforesting Northern Canada... and, it seems as if nature has calibrated the quantities, close to the Nepal's results... It is well spread, just enough to retain water and nutrients needed for slow release? I cannot prove it (yet), but... 

Images intégrées 1







Blog, Geotherapy chronicle — for food security & global warming reversal / Chronique d'une géothérapie — pour la sécurité alimentaire & l'inversion du réchauffement planétaire


Conseiller: soil4climate, Sols Vivants Québec

 Actif: soil-age


No one can change the past, everyone can change the future


(from/de Soil Carbon Coalition)


As Vernadsky realized about 100 years ago, life (powered by photosynthesis and carbon cycling) is the most potent geologic force. Carbon cycling (which heavily influences water cycling) underlies almost all of our biggest challenges. Many now realize that humans have become a principle influence on carbon and water cycling, but our influence has been largely inadvertent, and often (e.g. changes in soil carbon in specific places) outside our awareness.


Comme l’a découvert Vernadsky il y a approximativement un siècle, la vie (générée par la photosynthèse et le cycle du carbone) est la plus puissante des forces géologiques. Le cycle du carbone (qui influence fortement le cycle de l’eau) est la principale force derrière tous nos plus importants défis. Plusieurs réalisent aujourd’hui que l’humanité est devenue la principale influence sur les cycles du carbone et de l’eau, mais notre influence s’est produite largement par inadvertance, et souvent (e.g. la diminution des niveaux de carbone des sols) en dehors de notre connaissance. 




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Schmidt_2017_BC-based_fertilization.pdf

Thomas Goreau

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Oct 16, 2017, 2:01:08 PM10/16/17
to Benoit Lambert, Soil Age, Joanna Campe, Othon Henry Leonardos, Suzi Huff Theodoro, William, Antonio Donato Nobre, Foster Brown
The ashes contain most of the elements in the plant except for carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur, so it acts as a quick release rock powder with the char. The problem is that it is not enough for more than the first crop, and easily washed away in rain. The seeded grasses grew fast in Amazon pasture ashes and charcoal, but after it had been grazed once by cattle it never regenerated, having exhausted the nutrients, and leaving largely barren ground behind that was once jungle.

Thomas J. F. Goreau, PhD
President, Global Coral Reef Alliance
President, Biorock Technology Inc.
Coordinator, Soil Carbon Alliance
Coordinator, United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development Small Island Developing States Partnership in New Sustainable Technologies
37 Pleasant Street, Cambridge, MA 02139

Books:

Geotherapy: Innovative Methods of Soil Fertility Restoration, Carbon Sequestration, and Reversing CO2 Increase

Innovative Methods of Marine Ecosystem Restoration

The Green Disc, New Technologies for a New Future: Innovative Methods for Sustainable Development

No one can change the past, everyone can change the future

When lies trump truth, the dark ages begin

On Oct 16, 2017, at 10:52 AM, Benoit Lambert <benoit....@gmail.com> wrote:

...another picture of biochar following a forest fire in Northern Quebec. By the way, all sectors get forest fires, at different times.

<006.jpg>







Blog, Geotherapy chronicle — for food security & global warming reversal / Chronique d'une géothérapie — pour la sécurité alimentaire & l'inversion du réchauffement planétaire

Conseiller: soil4climate, Sols Vivants Québec
 Actif: soil-age


No one can change the past, everyone can change the future

(from/de Soil Carbon Coalition)

As Vernadsky realized about 100 years ago, life (powered by photosynthesis and carbon cycling) is the most potent geologic force. Carbon cycling (which heavily influences water cycling) underlies almost all of our biggest challenges. Many now realize that humans have become a principle influence on carbon and water cycling, but our influence has been largely inadvertent, and often (e.g. changes in soil carbon in specific places) outside our awareness.

Comme l’a découvert Vernadsky il y a approximativement un siècle, la vie (générée par la photosynthèse et le cycle du carbone) est la plus puissante des forces géologiques. Le cycle du carbone (qui influence fortement le cycle de l’eau) est la principale force derrière tous nos plus importants défis. Plusieurs réalisent aujourd’hui que l’humanité est devenue la principale influence sur les cycles du carbone et de l’eau, mais notre influence s’est produite largement par inadvertance, et souvent (e.g. la diminution des niveaux de carbone des sols) en dehors de notre connaissance. 

2017-10-16 11:42 GMT-04:00 Benoit Lambert <benoit....@gmail.com>:
Thank you Thomas,
Biochar is indeed mimicking nature. Recent (impressive) results in Nepal by Hans-Peter Schmidt's team, show we don't need to use that much. Which makes biochar more affordable (article attached). Also: we see biochar in soils when reforesting Northern Canada... and, it seems as if nature has calibrated the quantities, close to the Nepal's results... It is well spread, just enough to retain water and nutrients needed for slow release? I cannot prove it (yet), but... 

<020.jpg>
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