每个人都应该为地球尽一份力

Mitigation includes those actions that can help reduce the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere.Adaptation involves preparing forests and rangelands for the increasingly stressful effects of climate change as they occur in the coming decades.And sustainable operations mean that we will do our part to reduce our agency’s “ecological footprint.” Our mitigation efforts focus not only on National Forest System lands – but also on providing leadership for the nation’s forests -- 57% of which are in private ownership. By conserving and managing existing forests we can protect and maintain the carbon they store.  By planting new forests, we create new carbon sinks.Planting trees in urban areas decreases the so-called “heat island” effect that occurs when solar energy is absorbed by roofs and pavement. This reduces energy use for air conditioning.Another thing we can do is promote the use of wood in our every day lives.Wood used for energy is bio-energy – sustainable energy that can replace fossil fuels and the emissions they produce. For example, the Fuels for Schools program helps schools in the Western States use woody biomass as an energy source for economical heat. The Forest Products Lab is developing a number of new ways to use wood fiber from our forests. When it comes to constructing homes and other buildings, wood has the lowest energy consumption and the lowest CO2 emission of any commonly used building material. Designing buildings to use more wood instead of concrete, plastic and steel could result in a significant drop in greenhouse gas emissions. Forest Service researchers are developing new processes for converting wood to ethanol and other liquid fuels. Wood has the potential to produce fuel more efficiently than corn, and could replace a significant portion of our demand for transportation fuels.By using wood more efficiently, particularly the smaller trees, we are able to both manage for a healthier forest and lock up the carbon stored in that wood.While we must take measures now to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the benefits of these actions won’t be realized for some time.