The Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol, created by over 160 nations, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by giving legally binding emissions reduction targets for developed countries. Under this agreement, the UK’s target is to cut its emissions by 12.5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. However, the UK government believes that the UK can and should go further. The Government has therefore set a domestic goal to go further than the Kyoto commitment and cut the UK’s production of carbon dioxide by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2010.

Many of us in the UK would probably welcome the obvious feature of global warming, i.e., warmer weather, if only that were the only effects. Recent studies suggest that the weather in the UK could cool down giving us a climate similar to Iceland. This is because global climate change could cause the disruption of the Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current that moves past the UK keeping our climate mild for a country located at such northerly latitudes. Other predictions say that temperatures in the UK will rise significantly. Whatever the eventuality, this is what the future could hold for us unless we do something about our current emission production.

More extreme weather, flooding, prolonged dry spells, severe storms extreme heat and cold and the consequences that these weather patterns have for agriculture, human existence both in the UK and abroad.

• Increase in desertification
• Spread of tropical diseases to previously unaffected areas
• Famine

This is becoming more evident as the temperatures get warmer resulting in seasons changing. In August 2003, parts of the UK basked in temperatures as high as 38.5C (100.6F), whilst in other parts of the country more than 20 people were killed by lightning during horrific thunder storms. 2007 saw the wettest year on record, double the average rainfall for the month of July, for more than 240 years. The rain bought severe flooding in the UK to Berkshire. Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.

Whole chunks of the Antarctic ice shelf are breaking off, raising sea levels. The summer of 2007 saw Arctic recorded temperatures above 20C approximately 15C higher than the long term average. This is turn resulted in a dramatic melting of Arctic sea ice to the lowest level ever recorded.

Storms are becoming more ferocious, with hurricanes reaching category 5 – a rarity before, but now becoming more common.
Once again 2007 and hurricane Dean was ranked in the top ten most intense hurricanes of all time. 6 hurricanes, within the last decade appear in the top ten, Wilma, Rita, Katrina, Mitch, Dean and Ivan.

In the UK, during the month of September 2007, tornados swept across the country striking parts of Bedfordshire, Hampshire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire to name but a few areas.

Limiting the damage already procured has begun; the damage will never be reversed only stabilized.

One method of damage control conducted by many is known as carbon sequestration. ‘Sequestering’ means to retrieve the carbon already out there in the atmosphere. Trees are perfect for this role in the ever challenging task of climate change.

Trees clean up the atmosphere in this unique way and the global ‘green canopy’ plays an important part of calming storms, flash floods and weather hazards. By planting more trees every year and extending our woodlands, we can sequester more and more carbon to help the process of mitigating climate change.

Each standing mature tree will lock up approx 500kgs of carbon. This is a variable dependant upon site and species. A tree is at its most productive at around 10years. Past this point it gradually starts reducing its carbon intake, therefore it is a good idea to remove and replant at this stage.

The felled tree can then be used in a manner of ways once harvested, woodcrafts and logging to use as a biomass fuel, saving once again the use of fossil fuels which in turn avoids any increase in atmospheric carbon.

We at The Murry Foundation, as with all our projects aim to make a difference which is why we have set up our own carbon sequestration project in the UK. We have recently bought 11 acres of land in North Wales specifically for this purpose.

If you would like to help us make our planet more comfortable for future generations please support us by pledging a tree.