Abstract
The mid-latitude zone can be broadly defined as part of the hemisphere between 30°–60° latitude. This zone is home to over 50 % of the world population and encompasses about 36 countries throughout the principal region, which host most of the world’s development and poverty related problems. In reviewing some of the past and current major environmental challenges that parts of mid-latitudes are facing, this study sets the context by limiting the scope of midlatitude region to that of Northern hemisphere, specifically between 30°–45° latitudes which is related to the warm temperate zone comprising the Mid-Latitude ecotone – a transition belt between the forest zone and southern dry land territories. The ongoing climate change reveals a substantial increase of temperature and simultaneous decrease in the amount of precipitation across vast continental regions in the mid-latitudes. According to climatic predictions, these tendencies will continue during the 21st century, which will likely increase the frequency and severity of droughts and water stress of vegetation. Along with climate change, ongoing land degradation and deforestation are observed in many regions of the mid-latitude region. For example, the Korean peninsula, which is divided into South and North Korea, is characterized by drastically different forest conditions. Deforestation in North Korea has been exacerbating at a noticeable pace due to excessive logging and human intervention. Such problems are not confined to Korean peninsula but are witnessed across vast regions of the mid-latitude region. Within this context – acquiring better understanding in the role of terrestrial ecosystems located at different latitudes is critical – for building resilience against the negative impact of climate change and for maintaining the stability of the environment and landscapes.
Highlights
While the conventional approach of «grow first, clean up later» has been a pervasive economic growth strategy that prevailed over half century, some of negative effects of the indiscriminate way of development have become evident in many parts of the world
What seems to put further constraints on this already precarious condition is a series of evidence on environmental degradation; deforestation; continued desertification and decline of carbon sink capacity, which all in all came at the expense of social and economic development (Cui et al, 2014; Kim et al, 2016; Lamchin et al, 2016)
According to the OECD... (2012), water stress in the midlatitude region will substantially increase by 2050, especially in territories of the Central Asia (Fig. 4). Such environmental challenges will be intensified by extremes of precipitation and temperature, which are often coupled with natural disturbances such as flood, hurricanes and frequent and severe drought. Considering that both the variability of climate change and human influence is expected to be large at the mid-latitudes, the ecotone will be more strongly affected by anthropogenic and natural causes, which are often manifested in the form of deforestation, continuing desertification and alteration of the balance between carbon sinks and sources
Summary
While the conventional approach of «grow first, clean up later» has been a pervasive economic growth strategy that prevailed over half century, some of negative effects of the indiscriminate way of development have become evident in many parts of the world. This paper is structured into three components: firstly, it explores the definition and current status of mid-latitude region of the northern hemisphere This provides a snapshot of challenges in typical areas of mid-latitude region, the case of temperate forests in Korean peninsula, Yanbian in Jilin province of China and desert and degraded area in Mongolia, which belong to the mid-latitude ecotone. In reviewing some of the past and current major environmental challenges that parts of mid-latitudes are facing, this study sets the context by limiting the scope of the mid-latitude region to that of Northern hemisphere, between 30°–45° latitudes, which is mostly related to the warm temperate zone (Fig. 1). About 1.3 billion people are reliant on forests, and the majority of these are extremely poor and their level of dependence is large, which are often linked to the magnitude of income obtained from agriculture (Murphy, 2011; Shepherd et al, 2013; Angelsen et al, 2014)
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