The tale of continents: How greener was my Antarctica of the yore!

Large quantities of pollen and algae in sediment cores were taken around
Antarctica. Fossils of plant life in Antarctica are difficult to come by because
the movement of the massive ice sheets covering the landmass grinds and scrapes
away the evidence


A new university-led study with NASA participation finds
ancient Antarctica was much warmer and wetter than previously
suspected. The climate was suitable to support substantial vegetation
-- including stunted trees -- along the edges of the frozen
continent.

The team of scientists involved in the study, published online June 17
in Nature Geoscience, was led by Sarah J. Feakins of the University
of Southern California in Los Angeles, and included researchers from
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and Louisiana
State University in Baton Rouge.

By examining plant leaf wax remnants in sediment core samples taken
from beneath the Ross Ice Shelf, the research team found summer
temperatures along the Antarctic coast 15 to 20 million years ago
were 20 degrees Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius) warmer than today,
with temperatures reaching as high as 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7
degrees Celsius). Precipitation levels also were found to be several
times higher than today.

"The ultimate goal of the study was to better understand what the
future of climate change may look like," said Feakins, an assistant
professor of Earth sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters,
Arts and Sciences. "Just as history has a lot to teach us about the
future, so does past climate. This record shows us how much warmer
and wetter it can get around the Antarctic ice sheet as the climate
system heats up. This is some of the first evidence of just how much
warmer it was."

Scientists began to suspect that high-latitude temperatures during the
middle Miocene epoch were warmer than previously believed when
co-author Sophie Warny, assistant professor at LSU, discovered large
quantities of pollen and algae in sediment cores taken around
Antarctica. Fossils of plant life in Antarctica are difficult to comel
by because the movement of the massive ice sheets covering the
landmass grinds and scrapes away the evidence.

"Marine sediment cores are ideal to look for clues of past vegetation,
as the fossils deposited are protected from ice sheet advances, but
these are technically very difficult to acquire in the Antarctic and
require international collaboration," said Warny.

Tipped off by the tiny pollen samples, Feakins opted to look at the
remnants of leaf wax taken from sediment cores for clues. Leaf wax
acts as a record of climate change by documenting the hydrogen
isotope ratios of the water the plant took up while it was alive.

"Ice cores can only go back about one million years," Feakins said.
"Sediment cores allow us to go into 'deep time.'"

Based upon a model originally developed to analyze hydrogen isotope
ratios in atmospheric water vapor data from NASA's Aura spacecraft,
co-author and JPL scientist Jung-Eun Lee created experiments to find
out just how much warmer and wetter climate may have been.

"When the planet heats up, the biggest changes are seen toward the
poles," Lee said. "The southward movement of rain bands associated
with a warmer climate in the high-latitude southern hemisphere made
the margins of Antarctica less like a polar desert, and more like
present-day Iceland."

The peak of this Antarctic greening occurred during the middle Miocene
period, between 16.4 and 15.7 million years ago. This was well after
the age of the dinosaurs, which became extinct 64 million years ago.
During the Miocene epoch, mostly modern-looking animals roamed Earth,
such as three-toed horses, deer, camel and various species of apes.
Modern humans did not appear until 200,000 years ago.

Warm conditions during the middle Miocene are thought to be associated
with carbon dioxide levels of around 400 to 600 parts per million
(ppm). In 2012, carbon dioxide levels have climbed to 393 ppm, the
highest they've been in the past several million years. At the
current rate of increase, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are on
track to reach middle Miocene levels by the end of this century.

High carbon dioxide levels during the middle Miocene epoch have been
documented in other studies through multiple lines of evidence,
including the number of microscopic pores on the surface of plant
leaves and geochemical evidence from soils and marine organisms.
While none of these 'proxies' is as reliable as the bubbles of gas
trapped in ice cores, they are the best evidence available this far
back in time. While scientists do not yet know precisely why carbon
dioxide was at these levels during the middle Miocene, high carbon
dioxide, together with the global warmth documented from many parts
of the world and now also from the Antarctic region, appear to
coincide during this period in Earth's history.

Exclusive atlas for tribal areas in India

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: The city-based National Institute of Rural Development has developed a GIS-based atlas of all the tribal areas in the country which closely monitor the living standards of tribal populations besides checking encroachments in forest lands.
The tribal atlas, the first of its kind in the country, covers the Schedule V areas spread across Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh. The tribal map is based on satellite imagery which will be constantly updated for real time status of the tribal and forest lands.
Vast tracks of forest and tribal lands have been under encroachment in the all important Schedule V areas of the country. Moreover, there is no updated data on the status and living standards of many tribal communities despite the Central and the State governments taking up several welfare measures.
Since the tribal atlas is based on satellite imageries, it can be updated anytime for a first hand information on the condition of tribal lands and the people living there.
"This will help the Integrated Tribal Development Agency and the Integrated Tribal Development Project to have a better understanding of the needs of the tribals living in forest areas. This will also give boost the present administrative set-up catering to the development of tribal areas," says a report of the NIRD.
Experts at NIRD have utilised socio-economic and demographic data along with the natural resources information and infrastructure data for generation of the tribal atlas. The GIS map covers areas ranging from regional to micro levels which will serve as a proven effective administrative and management tool for decision making for developing the tribal areas and their people.
The atlas is based on the demographic profile of Scheduled-V areas and has a spatial spread. It will have wide use among organisations working for tribal development.

Forest fires become rare in Andhra Pradesh

2004
Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, May 5: Forest fires, which worry environmentalists elsewhere in the world, have become rare in Andhra Pradesh with the State Forest Department taking satellite imageries of the forests on daily basis.
The forest department gets remote sensing data on the status of green cover including forest fires every day at 2.00 pm, giving a first hand information what is going on in all the reserve forest.
"We analyse the data and take quick action to contain forest fires, in case we notice them. The information is passed on to lower rung officials instantaneously. The incidence of forest fires have come down by 50 per cent and the department could save hundreds of crores of Rupees worth forest material and wildlife from fire accidents," principal chief conservator of forests SK Das said.
Forests fires in the State have over the years been responsible for degradation. Vast areas of forests and grasslands are burnt every year. The loss simply runs into hundreds of crores of Rupees since the State forests harbour economically important species like teak, terminalia, anogeissus, bamboo, dalbergia, lannea and red sanders.
Forest fires are generally noticed between December and May as the leaf fall starts towards the end of December. The dry grass around forms a highly combustible material for forest fires.
The department has categorised factors influencing forest fires into fuel index like combustible bio-mass from forest type, topography (slope and aspect) and proximity (roads and settlements).
"We have established the inter-relationship for these factors and finally integrated it for identification and zonation of fire prone areas from lowest to highest risk. The geomatic maps pinpoint locations for erection of fire watch towers, execution of fire lines and construction of fire walls," Das pointed out.

Forest Atlas of Andhra Pradesh Is Ready

2003
Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Aug 5: For the first time the State will have its own "forest atlas" which guides people on the topography of the State's reserve forests and its fast declining wildlife.
The State Forests Department is using the state-of-the-art satellite imagery technology to prepare the forest atlas with both colour and black and white satellite photographs. The forest atlas is likely to be in place by the end of this year.
"It will give spatial distribution of forest type along with density. It involves overlay analysis of forest types with forest density coverage. The forest type map will be generated using multi-spectral LISS-III (colour cameras) and hyper-spectral data. The density mapping will be done using PAN (black and white images) data," a senior forest official in the GIS told this correspondent.
The department will also map the bamboo areas in reserve forests using the satellite remote sensing data and the existing forest working plans. Based on this the probable out-turn will be estimated. Officials are now busy taking inventory of bamboo vegetation. Vegetation type mapping will be taken up employing satellite data and forest working plans.
The forests department boasts of 63,814 sq km of forest area while actual dense forest area is just 23,048 sq km. As much as 19,859 sq km is under "open forest" which means thin or degraded forest area. The proposed forest atlas will give an idea on the nature of various forest types, the flora and fauna they contain, and the density or otherwise of reserve forests.