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* Deforestation, which is occurring all over the world, has a doubly damaging effect: it reduces the
number of trees that can recover the carbon dioxide produced by human activities, and it releases
into the atmosphere the carbon contained in the trees that are cut down.
* The world at large currently doesn't "pay" much for the positive effects of
forests. The value of trees as lumber and as firewood, and the value of the land they occupy
for housing or farming, tend to be short-term and specific. In fact, these benefits may be a matter
of survival in some regions. The value of forests for preventing global warming and preserving the
earth's biodiversity, by contrast, are long-term and their rewards apply to everyone generally. A
way has to be found to make the expansion and nurturing of forests appealing and cost-effective to
the local populations that usually decide their fate.
* In terms of efforts to reduce global warming, a forest in one place is as good as a forest in
another. That can give rise to certain practical arrangements and efficiencies. Under the
Kyoto Protocol, once it takes effect, industrialized countries which lack space or
cost-effective options for expanding forests on their own territories may partially compensate for
their greenhouse-gas emissions by paying for the establishment and maintenance of forests in other
countries.
Changing agricultural methods
* Carbon stored in agricultural soils often can be preserved or enhanced by switching to
"no-tillage" or "low-tillage" techniques, which slow the rate at which organic
soil matter decomposes.
* In rice fields, emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, can be suppressed to some extent
through tillage practices, water management, and crop rotation.
* Using nitrogen fertilizers more efficiently can reduce emissions of nitrous oxide, another potent
greenhouse gas.
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