Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Hydroelectric Reservoirs
Abstract The presence of certain trace gases (e.g., CO 2 and CH 4 ) in the atmosphere is related to human activity (fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, and intensive agriculture), and to the biogeochemical processes that occur in natural environments (tropical and boreal forests and tundra). For...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2004
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/047147844x.sw383 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/047147844X.sw383 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/047147844X.sw383 |
| Summary: | Abstract The presence of certain trace gases (e.g., CO 2 and CH 4 ) in the atmosphere is related to human activity (fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, and intensive agriculture), and to the biogeochemical processes that occur in natural environments (tropical and boreal forests and tundra). For many years now, scientists have been trying to determine the importance of natural environments as sinks for or sources of these trace gases (1, 2, 3). The terrestrial biosphere constitutes a major carbon sink (4); more than a third of the anthropic CO 2 emissions are fixed there (5). However, certain changes in land use (e.g., deforestation and the draining of marshes for agriculture) can lead to changes in the way greenhouse gases (GHGs) are produced or fixed by modifying the physicochemical characteristics of these soils. In the medium and long term, these changes are likely to invert the carbon sink capacity that has been attributed until now to certain natural environments (e.g., boreal regions). This article examines how one of these land‐use changes, the creation of hydroelectric reservoirs, significantly modifies the carbon cycle in natural environments. |
|---|