Team: 28
School: Truman Mid
Area of Science: Climate/Ecology
Proposal: Forests: help with slowing climate change. Trees capture greenhouse gases (GHGs) like carbon dioxide, preventing them from accumulating in the atmosphere and warming our planet. When forests are cleared or burnt, stored carbon is released into the atmosphere, mainly as carbon dioxide. Averaged over 2017-2020, global loss of tropical forests contributed about 4.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year (or about 8-10% of annual human emissions of carbon dioxide). Burning fossil fuels, in combination with destruction of carbon sinks due to deforestation and other activities, has contributed to more and more carbon dioxide building up in the atmosphere – more than can be absorbed from existing carbon sinks such as forests. The build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is driving global warming, as it traps heat in the lower atmosphere. Carbon dioxide levels are now at their highest in human history. We will create a simulation to explain the relationship between deforestation and climate change.
Team Members:
Camila Hernandez
Yahir Prieto
Sebastian Puentes
Sponsoring Teacher: Natali Barreto