An extensive review of studies and databases reveals that drought and an increase in temperature are already causing species substitutions, greater aridity, higher forest fire risk, lower soil fertility, and lower water availability, among other negative impacts.
The COP21 set the maximum temperature increase for 2100 at 1.5° C. The only scenario which would allow achievement of this goal would require vastly reducing human CO2 emissions, significantly increasing the prominence of renewable energies, and the use of some type of artificial carbon sequestration technology.
This finding is described in an article including CREAF researchers and coauthors Aitor Ameztegui and Lluís Brotons. The study addresses how the superior limit of forest cover in the Pyrenees has changed over 50 years. According to the study, the tree line has advanced upward an average of 40 meters, one of the main causes of this being decreasing pressures from livestock. Contrary to common thinking to date, climate change may play a much lesser role than previously thought.
