Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases Emissions by Management of Terrestrial Ecosystem

Carbon dioxide fluxes between ecosystems of the Earth are presented. It was shown that intensifying its absorption of terrestrial ecosystems by 3.2% would prove sufficient to neutralize carbon dioxide emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels and cement production. It was shown that Polish forests absorb 84.6 million tons of CO₂/year, that is 26% of emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production, while agricultural crops absorb 103 million tons of CO₂/year. Total carbon dioxide sequestration by forests and agricultural crops amounts to 187.5 million tons of CO₂/year, which is tantamount to 59% of emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production. Forestation of marginal soils would further increase carbon dioxide absorption in Poland by 20.6 million tons of CO₂/year. Moreover, if plants were sown in order to produce green manure - instead of leaving soil fallow - sequestration could still be boosted by another 6.2 million tons of CO₂/year.