Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change Deforestation, Oil and Aviation Fuels: A Brazilian Take on the Climate Emergency | Ep213: Thelma Krug
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Jun 18, 2025 Thelma Krug, a Brazilian scientist and former IPCC vice chair, shares her insights on the crucial shift of the Amazon rainforest from a carbon sink to a potential carbon source. She discusses the challenges of balancing environmental preservation with economic growth in Brazil, especially as the country prepares for COP30. The conversation also delves into complex international climate negotiations, innovative solutions like biofuels, and the controversial area of geoengineering, highlighting the urgent need for global collaboration to combat climate change.
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Amazon's Carbon Role Shift
- The Amazon rainforest has shifted from being a carbon sink to a carbon source due to recent droughts and biomass fires.
- This shift may be temporary but highlights the increasing vulnerability of the forest to climate change.
Early Satellite Deforestation Work
- Brazil's deforestation monitoring started with 200+ satellite images analyzed manually on transparent paper.
- Transitioning to digital methods enabled consistent and detailed tracking of deforestation trends over decades.
Advancing Biomass Monitoring
- Use new biomass-detecting satellites and controlled CO2 injection experiments to better understand forest carbon changes.
- Combine satellite data with on-the-ground measurements for accurate and ongoing forest biomass assessment.