Brian Dunbar

Headquarters, Washington, D.C. May 8, 1990

(Phone: 202/453-1547)

Diane Stanley
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
(Phone: 415/604-9000)

RELEASE: 90-067

NASA STUDIES EFFECT OF TROPICAL-FOREST BURNING ON

GREENHOUSE GAS

Cattle pastures that were once Brazilian tropical forests

may be contributing to the buildup of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, NASA scientists report.

A team headed by Dr. Pamela Matson of Ames Research Center,

Moffett Field, Calif., sampled nitrous oxide levels in three
ecosystems within Brazil's Amazon Basin: undisturbed rain
forests, recently cleared and burned areas and land converted to
cattle pastures.

The researchers found that nitrous oxide emissions from

recently cleared areas were not significantly higher than those
from undisturbed rain forest. However, annual emissions from
pastures were three times as high as levels obtained from
representative samples of tropical forest.

Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas, trapping heat close to

the Earth's surface that would otherwise radiate into space.
Various studies have shown nitrous oxide concentrations in the
atmosphere are increasing by 0.2 to 0.3 percent each year, but
investigators, studying global climate, have been unable to
explain the increase.

"This is the first study showing the potential importance of

tropical land use changes on greenhouse gases other than carbon
dioxide," said Dr. Matson. "Given that tropical deforestation is
occurring so rapidly, this effect could have global
significance."

- more -

-2-

Recent estimates by the United Nations Food and Agriculture

Organization and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences indicate
approximately 15 to 20 million acres of tropical forests are
cleared each year for pasture and agricultural use around the
world. Another 35 million acres of regrown forest are cleared
annually for slash-and-burn agriculture and for other short-term
uses.

Nitrous oxide is a byproduct of the alteration of nitrogen

by microbes in the soil. When it reaches the upper atmosphere,
nitrous oxide also contributes to the breakdown of the ozone
layer.

The clearing of tropical forests illustrates the complex

environmental interactions related to global climate change. In
addition to possibly increasing greenhouse-gas emissions, the
clearing of forests removes a vast carbon "sink" by destroying
large numbers of plants that remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere through photosynthesis. The burning of the trees
after clearing directly releases vast quantities of carbon
dioxide, another greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. The net
effect of such clearing on atmospheric chemistry, however, has
never been precisely quantified, and it's exact effect on global
climate remains uncertain.
 The findings were reported by researchers for NASA's Ames
Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.; Brazil's Institute for
Research in the Amazon; and Stanford University, Palo Alto,
Calif. The report was based on data gathered in the Amazon Basin
in 1987 and 1988. The study's research team included Dr. Gerald
Livingston from Ames, Flavio and Regina Luizao of the Brazil
Institute and Dr. Peter Vitousek of Stanford. The study was
supported by the Biospheric Research Program within NASA's Office
of Space Science and Applications in collaboration with the
Brazilian Institute for Space Research, San Jose dos Campos,
Brazil.

- end -

NASA news releases and other NASA information is available

electronically on CompuServe and GEnie, the General Electric
Network for Information Exchange. For information on CompuServe,
call 1-800-848-8199 and ask for representative 176. For
information on GEnie, call 1-800-638-9636.

TO: MDS/PRA Group

1615 L Street, N.W. - Suite 100
Washington, D.C. 20036

DATE & TIME: May 08, 1990 3:45pm

ORDERED BY: Edward Campion

NASA Headquarters/LMD
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20546 PHONE: 202/453-8400

PROJECT TITLE: Release No: 90-67

PRINT ORDER: 2254

PRINTING: Camera Ready, lst pg on NASA logo, other pages plain

ENCLOSE & MAIL: Release of 2 pages

MAIL DATE: May 09, 1990

EXTRA COPIES: Deliver specified quanities to locations below:

 50 copies 275 copies 75 copies
-------------------- ------------------- -----------------
National Press Club NASA Mailroom NASA Newsroom
13th floor newsrack NASA Headquarters NASA Headquarters
National Press Building 600 Independ. Ave, SW 400 Maryland Ave, SW
529 14th Street, NW Room A16 Room 6043
Washington, DC 20045 Washington, DC 20546 Washington, DC 20546

MEDIA SUMMARY OPTION: Name-by-name media summary - 1 copy

CLIENT COMPUTER LISTS: Run the following:

LS-CA, LS-FA, LS-GA*27E, LS-KA,

TYPE OF RELEASE & PIX: General news X 21:T-23:T

PUT ADDRESSING ON: Self-mailer

MEDIA SELECTION:

END OF ORDER FORM

END OF TRANSMISSION