NIR Spectroscopy on Peatlands: An Emerging Tool for Monitoring Climate Change Impact

Abstract

The reality of climate change G lobal climate change is becoming increasingly evident in recent decades, and is manifested through variable and severe weather. In the last several months, calls for strong action towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere and towards adaptation have become more intense. In October 2006, Sir Nicholas Stern, Head of the UK Government Economic Service and a former Chief Economist of the World Bank released the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. Its main conclusions are that 1% of global GDP is required to be invested per year in order to mitigate the effects of climate change, and that failure to do so could risk global GDP being up to 20% lower later in this century and the next than it might be otherwise. In February 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) announced the pending release of its Fourth Assessment Report. The report was produced by some 600 authors from 40 countries. Scientists now have very high confidence that the effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of warming. This is evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperature, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising average sea level. Most startling is that the earth has not yet come to steady state with the greenhouse gases (GHG) already emitted by human activity, even as GHG emissions continue to rise.