Green Ocean of Life

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

If there are no forests, there will be no life on Earth. This is the key position of the theory of biotic regulation, which has caused heated discussions in the scientific community. After all, it is believed that the climate is destroyed mainly by harmful emissions into the atmosphere. Anastasia Makarieva has published over thirty articles on this topic, and was recently awarded the L’OREAL-UNESCO prize, annually awarded to young women scientists for their significant contribution to science.

Forests, like giant natural pumps, deliver the moisture necessary for life to the most remote land areas from the world's oceans, says biophysicist Anastasia Makarieva.

What is the essence of biotic regulation?

For more than ten years now we have been working on the following problem: what mechanisms (physical, ecological, biological) make the environment fit for life? The theory of biotic regulation gives the following answer to this: everything necessary for life on the planet is supported by undisturbed natural ecosystems. Why do rivers flow? Where does the water come from? It has long been calculated (by the way, for the first time - by the Russian hydrologist Mikhail Lvovich) that the entire world supply of fresh water flows into the ocean in about four years. And so that the rivers do not run out, it is necessary to constantly replenish the moisture reserves on land, supplying it from the ocean in the same amount in which it flows there. This happens through the atmosphere - the wind blows from the ocean and carries moisture to the most remote corners of the land.

According to the theory of biotic regulation, the main cause of environmental shocks is the destruction of global ecosystems. An environment suitable for human life exists only as long as most of the planet is occupied by natural ecosystems.

Based on the fact that the water cycle is controlled by forests, we described the physical mechanism of this process, calling it the forest pump of atmospheric moisture. Water vapor evaporated from leaf surfaces condenses in the cold upper atmosphere. Because of this, the air over the forest is thinned, its pressure drops. This creates updrafts over the forest, sucking in moisture from the ocean and bringing it to land. After precipitation over land, dry air returns to the ocean in the upper atmosphere. The main thing here is that the wind blows where there is more evaporation. And it is more above the forests.

Is there more evaporation over a forested area than over the ocean?

Yes, because the forest has a high leaf index - in other words, there are many leaf blades per unit surface area. This can be figuratively explained as follows: there is more evaporation from several wet towels than from one of the same size. The ocean is one towel, and the forest is many. When we cut down forests and replace them with, say, herbage, the leaf index drops sharply. Accordingly, evaporation from the surface of the ecosystem decreases - at first it is compared with the oceanic evaporation, and then it becomes significantly less. As a result, the wind changes direction and begins to blow from land to ocean. The desert is always closed to moisture - the wind blows there only towards the sea. Here is an explanation why deforestation is tantamount to the purposeful transformation of land into a desert.

So, the main threat is not industrial emissions, but the disappearance of forests? So what about the Kyoto Protocol?

It is believed that the main environmental task of mankind is the fight against large-scale environmental pollution: atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide as a result of burning fossil fuels or poisoning of water and soil with industrial waste. And as soon as zero-waste technologies and environmentally friendly energy sources appear, the grounds for natural disasters will disappear.

But, according to the theory of biotic regulation, the main cause of environmental shocks is the destruction of global ecosystems. Imagine a person sitting on a tree branch over a precipice. He eats candy and throws candy wrappers down, at the same time sawing the branch on which he sits. At the same time, he is worried that soon there will be so much garbage that he will drown in it, but he is not worried that he himself will collapse into the abyss from the cut down bitch earlier. The Kyoto Protocol can be compared to the excitement over candy wrappers.

We present specific quantitative data that indicate that an environment suitable for human life exists only as long as most of the planet is occupied by natural ecosystems.

Nevertheless, the Kyoto Protocol is again on the agenda

This has less to do with environmental concerns than with economic feasibility. Fossil fuel prices are so high that developed countries can develop their alternative energy sources with comparable costs. The Kyoto Protocol distracts public attention from the main causes of global change. Even a complete transition to alternative energy sources will not lead to the restoration of climate resilience. It is necessary to reduce the anthropogenic load on the biosphere.

How do you explain global warming?

From the point of view of the theory of biotic regulation, the destruction of natural ecosystems leads to a loss of climate stability on Earth. Consequence - various cataclysms: temperature anomalies, droughts, floods, hurricanes. It doesn't matter whether the planet is getting warmer or colder on average.

How did the scientific community react to your theory?

After the publication of the results of our research, they became interested in Brazil, where the conservation of the Amazon forests is now a national priority; in Indonesia and Uganda, where there are rainforests. The most important thing today is to provide a scientific basis for the environmental movement. Unfortunately, most people employed in environmental organizations are motivated primarily by emotional experiences. This weakens the position of conservation movements - after all, decision-makers are pragmatists and cynics. It is difficult to penetrate them with complaints about the extinction of some butterflies or birds.

By the way, about pragmatism: you insist on giving the status of a nature reserve to the entire territory of Siberia …

Large-scale development of Siberian forests will turn the region into a desert like Australia. And this will happen due to the destruction of the forest pump of atmospheric moisture. By the way, it is biotic regulation that explains why Australia, before the appearance of people there, was covered with forests, turned into a desert. Deforestation in a coastal area is like cutting the tube of a pump that pumps water out of the ocean. Cut off from moisture, the inner continental forests simply dried up, leaving no geological traces of this regional catastrophe.

When discussing plans for the development of Siberia, the creation of new jobs is often mentioned as a positive factor. Think about these words! When does it become necessary to artificially create new jobs? When there are people who have nothing to do and need to invent something for them. And all human activity in one way or another is associated with the destruction of the biosphere. Logically, it turns out: each - a destroyed piece of the planet.

Where is this global trend leading with a growing population? Towards a global ecological collapse.

Now all over our country, actions are taking place in defense of the Bolshoi Utrish reserve - a highway is being built there. How can I save him?

We receive such messages on a regular basis. The essence of the problem is not in the flora from the Red Book. Conserving individual species without conserving ecosystems is like keeping nuts and bolts from a broken car. Humanity needs not tiny reserves, two to three percent of the Earth's territory, which would be protected as natural monuments or, rather, as natural monuments, but a working mechanism of undisturbed ecosystems. And its power must be sufficient to maintain the sustainability of the environment. A separate reserve is one hot spot, and the main goal is to preserve natural ecosystems.

Related article: Wind and hurricanes are due to forests, not temperature!