ClimateWatch.org

The Society for Ecological Restoration International (SER) issued a position statement on global climate change during its joint conference with the Ecological Society of America (ESA) "Ecological Restoration in a Changing World" held this week in San Jose, CA. The SER position statement was endorsed by the ESA governing board. An estimated 4,500 people attended the meeting.

The position statement calls attention to the vital role played by terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in supporting humanity, and the need to protect and restore these habitats in order to mitigate global climate change and its effects. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that climate change is a real threat that requires immediate action. Changes in land use and the subsequent loss of biodiversity are a significant contributing factor to global climate change.

"The loss of vital ecosystem functions and services reduces biological resilience and adaptability, further increasing our vulnerability to the adverse impacts of global climate change," said Keith Bowers, outgoing Chair of SER. "Ecological restoration is a critical tool in addressing global climate change, enhancing the extent and functioning of carbon sinks as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

"SER strongly urges local, regional, and national governments, international development banks and non-governmental organizations as well as private institutions to plan, finance, and coordinate ecological restoration projects and programs as part of a comprehensive global strategy for mitigating climate change and its effects," said the SER statement. Accordingly, "…developed nations should actively support restoration programs throughout the world by providing financial support, sharing technology and committing expertise."

"Unless checked, global climate change will destroy people, places, and life as we know it. Ecological restoration offers hope in two key areas: by reconnecting fragmented ecosystems allowing animals and plants to migrate in response to such change; and, by capturing carbon through the restoration of forests, peat-forming wetlands, and other ecosystems that act as carbon sinks," said George Gann, incoming Chair of SER. "Protecting what we have is still important, but no longer sufficient," added Jim Harris, SER's Science and Policy Working Group Chair.
 

TRUTHS (Traceable Radiometry Underpinning Terrestrial- and Helio- Studies) is a proposed satellite mission, led by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), to improve tenfold the accuracy of earth observation satellites used to deliver climate change data. TRUTHS will launch a calibration laboratory into space to help settle international debates around climate change and provide a robust statistical baseline from which to monitor and predict changes in the Earths climate. Enabling the provision of data of sufficient accuracy to improve the predictive quality of climate models such as those of the UK Hadley centre a key requirement highlighted in the Stern review.

Since its initial proposal more than five years ago TRUTHS has been seeking the level of financial support required to convert it from theory to a fully-fledged satellite mission. Recent reports from the United Nations, the World Meteorological Organisation and the US Academy of Sciences all call for a spaceflight mission designed to achieve exactly what TRUTHS was established to deliver. The latter has even recommended such a mission as one of the four priorities for US spaceflight by 2013.