Ontario Power Generation
The Carbon Cycle
Climate change is the systematic accumulation of greenhouse gases, principally CO2, arising from the burning of thermal fuels. When greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere at rates exceeding the capacity of living, photosynthetically-active plants to trap (sequester) and recycle carbon, the accumulation of these gases is believed to modify our climate. This threat is exacerbated as we reduce ecologically productive surfaces globally to meet the energy, resource and spatial needs of an ever-increasing human population.
Climate change poses significant threats to biodiversity. It has the potential to cause dramatic shifts in ecosystem structure and composition, seriously imperiling species that cannot cope with rapidly changing ecosystem dynamics. Significant shifts in species distribution maps and habitat composition are expected, as temperature and moisture regimes change in response to changing climate.
The Role of Forests
So what role do forests play in all this? Carbon sequestration and storage slow the rate at which carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere and mitigate global warming. Forest soils and vegetation store about 40 percent of all carbon in the terrestrial biosphere, more than any other ecosystem. Regrowth of forests in the Northern Hemisphere may account in part for the increasing terrestrial sink that absorbs some of the carbon dioxide emissions released by thermal combustion. However, land use change, primarily tropical deforestation, currently releases an estimated 1.6 billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere each year, equivalent to 25 percent of emissions from thermal combustion.
Environmental Policy
Download our environmental policy statement.
SD Report
Our 2009 Sustainable Development Report is now available for download.