Protecting Carbon And Water Cycle

Question 1

Strategies to protect the carbon cycle

Answer 1

Wetland restoration
Afforestation
Agricultural practices

Question 2

Strategies to protect global water cycle

Answer 2

Forestry
Water allocation
Drainage basin planning

Question 3

What is wetland restorations

Answer 3

Freshwater marshes, salt marshes, floodplains and mangroves
Occupy 35% of terrestrial carbon pool - important carbon sink

Question 4

What is afforestation

Answer 4

Planting trees in deforested area - carbon sink - help reduce atmospheric CO2 levels
Protecting forests from loggers, farmers and miners

Question 5

What is agricultural practices

Answer 5

Overcultivation, overgrazing - result in soil erosion and the release of carbon into the atmosphere
Livestock farming produces 100 million tonnes/year of CH4

Question 6

What is forestry

Answer 6

Protecting of tropical rainforest (UN and world bank)

Question 7

What is water allocation

Answer 7

In countries with scarce amounts of water, governments have to allocate water resources
Agriculture uses 70% of water withdrawals and 90% of consumption
Minimising water losses to evaporation- mulching, drip irrigation
Recovering and recycling of waste water from agriculture

Question 8

What is drainage basin planning

Answer 8

Targeting Run-off, surface water storage and groundwater
Surface water storage is improved by conserving wetland and temporary storage on floodplains
Groundwater levels are maintained by limiting abstraction
Artificial recharge - injecting into aquifers through boreholes