Potential of Local Bio-Geoengineering to Mitigate Dangerous Temperature Increases in a Global Warming Scenario
Received Date: Apr 10, 2013 / Accepted Date: Jun 28, 2013 / Published Date: Jul 03, 2013
Abstract
Crops and forests are already responding to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide and air temperatures. Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations are expected to enhance plant photosynthesis. Nevertheless, after long-term exposure, plants acclimate and show a reduction in photosynthetic activity (i.e. own-regulation). If in the future the Earth’s temperature is allowed to rise further, plant ecosystems and food security will both face significant threats. The scientific community has recognized that an increase in global temperatures should remain below 2°C in order to combat climate change. All this evidence suggests that, in parallel with reductions in CO2 emissions, a more direct approach to mitigate global warming should be considered. We propose here that global warming could be partially mitigated directly through local bio-geoengineering approaches. For example, this could be done through the management of solar radiation at surface level, i.e. by increasing global albedo. Such an effect has been documented in the south-eastern part of Spain, where a significant surface air temperature trend of -0.3°C per decade has been observed due to a dramatic expansion of greenhouse horticulture.
Keywords: Global warming; Plant ecosystems; Local biogeoengineering; Albedo
Citation: Nogués S, Azcón-Bieto J (2013) Potential of Local Bio-Geoengineering to Mitigate Dangerous Temperature Increases in a Global Warming Scenario. J Earth Sci Clim Change 4: 143. Doi: 10.4172/2157-7617.1000143
Copyright: ©2013 Nogués S, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Share This Article
Recommended Journals
Open Access Journals
Article Tools
Article Usage
- Total views: 14956
- [From(publication date): 7-2013 - Aug 16, 2024]
- Breakdown by view type
- HTML page views: 10480
- PDF downloads: 4476