Sugar cane ethanol replaces fossil fuels, but changes in soil carbon could offset some of the benefit. Now, a study shows minor loss of soil carbon when pastures and croplands are converted to cane, but larger losses when converting native savannahs.
Deforestation offsets water balance changes due to climate variability in the Xingu River in eastern Amazonia
Deforestation offsets water balance changes due to climate variability in the Xingu River in eastern Amazonia
Deforestation reduced forest cover in Brazil’s Xingu River Basin (XB; area: 510,000 km2) from 90% of the basin in the 1970s to 75% in the 2000s. Such large-scale land cover changes can substantially alter regional water budgets, but their influence can be difficult...