Secrets of Antarctica's fossilised forests. 8 February 2011Last updated at 01:34 By Howard Falcon-Lang Royal Holloway, London Dinosaurs once foraged beneath the Southern Lights in Antarctica It may be hard to believe, but Antarctica was once covered in towering forests. One hundred million years ago, the Earth was in the grip of an extreme Greenhouse Effect. The polar ice caps had all but melted; in the south, rainforests inhabited by dinosaurs existed in their place. These Antarctic ecosystems were adapted to the long months of winter darkness that occur at the poles, and were truly bizarre. But if global warming continues unabated, could these ancient forests be a taste of things to come? One of the first people to uncover evidence for a once greener Antarctic was none other than the explorer, Robert Falcon Scott. Toiling back from the South Pole in 1912, he stumbled over fossil plants on the Beardmore Glacier at 82 degrees south.
Yet his fossil discoveries also opened up a whole new window on Antarctica's sub-tropical past. Europe's forests 'vital for climate goal' 14 June 2011Last updated at 16:29 By Mark Kinver Environment reporter, BBC News, Oslo Forests cover almost one half of Europe's land area Europe's forests can play a key role in helping mitigate the impact of climate change, a report described as the most comprehensive of its kind concludes. Europe is home to 25% of the world's forests, which absorb about 10% of the EU's annual emissions, it added. The study said that improved policies had increased tree cover but that the risks of fire and disease were growing.
The report was published at a summit where ministers considered developing a legally binding deal on forest policy. "We are benefiting now from the wise and brave decisions made in past," said Kit Prins, former UN timber chief, as he presented the findings to delegates at the Forest Europe conference in Oslo. Mr Prins added: "We believe that the study supplies the best information ever on Europe's forests. " Growing threats Continue reading the main story “Start Quote 'Safety net' Deforestation in the Amazon. While this is welcome news for Earth's largest rainforest, it is nonetheless important to understand why more than 580,000 square kilometers (224,000 square miles) of Amazon forest has destroyed in Brazil since 1980.
Why has Brazil lost so much forest? What can be done to stop deforestation? In the past, Brazilian deforestation was strongly correlated to the economic health of the country: the decline in deforestation from 1988-1991 nicely matched the economic slowdown during the same period, while the rocketing rate of deforestation from 1993-1998 paralleled Brazil's period of rapid economic growth. During lean times, ranchers and developers do not have the cash to expand their pasturelands and operations, while the government lacks funds to sponsor highways and colonization programs and grant tax breaks and subsidies to forest exploiters.
But this has all changed since the mid-2000s, when the link between deforestation and the broader Brazilian economy began to wane. Logging Fires. Nepal's forests 'being stripped by Indian timber demand' 29 September 2010Last updated at 02:19 By Navin Singh Khadka Environment reporter, BBC News, Nepal Nepal is facing significant deforestation As India takes steps to protect its forests in the fight against climate change, timber smuggling from Nepal is on the rise, Nepalese conservationists and officials say. They say this increase in smuggling is the result of growing demand for timber from the Indian market. Their counterparts in Indian states that share an open border with Nepal agree the smuggling is taking place. Continue reading the main story There are Nepalese people who have illegally settled in those Sal forests up there, it is they who help Indian smugglers” End QuoteRamesh ChandKanchanpur district forest office One of these unreported routes is through the waterways of the Mahakali river, which criss-crosses Nepalese and Indian lands in the western-most part of Nepal before merging with the Ganges.
"Do you see the forests up there? " By truck or tractor Nepal seizures. BBC News | SCI/TECH | Amazon forest 'could vanish fast' By BBC News Online's environment correspondent Alex Kirby The destruction of the Amazon rainforest could be irreversible within a decade, according to a US scientist. James Alcock, of Pennsylvania State University, says the forest could virtually disappear within half a century. His estimate of the possible rate of destruction is faster than most others and Mr Alcock, professor of environmental sciences at Penn State's Abington College, says the danger lies in a complex feedback process. Research published in the journal Science earlier this year suggesting that deforestation rates in the Amazon could reach 42% by 2020 were based on unreliable facts and "ecological futurology", Brazil's science and technology ministry said.
Point of no return But Professor Alcock's forecast, based on a mathematical model of human-driven deforestation, is starker still. Professor Alcock is presenting his findings at a conference in Scotland being held jointly by the Geology Societies of America and London.