Individual term paper topics

1. Assess current situation of Amazon deforestation, its effects on climate

change, and possible ways to mitigate deforestation.
2. Discuss why renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, is not
extensively used in Hong Kong even though it is more environmental
friendly than fossil fuels.
 Structure of term paper

1. Title – What is your report about?

2. Introduction – What do you examine? Why do you
examine it? What is the importance of examining it?
3. Data & Methods – Which period and which place do
you examine? What data are used? Where are the
data and information from? How do you examine?
4. Results – What do you find?
5. Discussion – What do you want to argue/imply?
6. Conclusions – What can be summarized?
7. References – List references that have been cited.

Notes:
• Feel free to include an Abstract section (optional).
• Section 4&5 better be combined into one section “Results and Discussion”.
 Writing A Scientific Research Article

Title:
• Be specific enough to describe the contents or the key finding(s)
• Avoid technical jargons that only specialists will understand
• Should be appropriate for the intended audience
• Interrogative sentence (i.e., how, why) is NOT preferred as a title
Authors:
• The person who did the work and wrote the paper is generally listed as the
first/corresponding author.
• Other people who made substantial contributions are listed as co-authors.
Abstract:
(Not required for the term paper per se, but feel free to have one)
• Should give the reader a "preview" of what's to come.
• Typically one paragraph, of 100-250 words, summarizing the purpose, methods,
and key findings of the paper.
• Do NOT use citations in the abstract.
 Writing A Scientific Research Article

Introduction:
• What question is the paper about? why it is interesting or important?
• What work has been done and what questions remain unanswered (literature
review)?
• End with a sentence/paragraph describing the specific goals of this study.
Data and Methods (Materials and Methods):
• Describe the data and methods used for the study.
• Do not put results in this section.- state the research is based on literature reviw
- some sentence = major source of data and info for the research
Results:
• This is where you present the results you've gotten.
• Use graphs and tables if appropriate, but also summarize your main findings in
the text.
• Do NOT discuss the results or speculate as to why something happened; that
goes in the Discussion.
 Writing A Scientific Research Article

Discussion (most important):

• Highlight the most significant results, and discuss if they can solve the original
question(s). - what is consistent
- why not consistent
• Are your results consistent with what other investigators have reported?
• If your results were unexpected, try to explain why. Discuss the limitations, if
any.
Conclusions:
• This section should comprise a brief statement of the major findings and the
implications of the study.
• New information must not be included in the conclusions.
Acknowledgments:
• Acknowledge people who provide data or technical assistance and funding
support.
References (Literature Cited)
Notes:
3. Guidelines on the use of reference materials in course assignments:
https://www.geog.hku.hk/intro-to-undergraduate-curriculum

Book
Qu, Geping and Li, Jinchang (1994) Population and the Environment in China. Lynne Rienner, Boulder, CO, 217 pp.

Book chapter
McGee, T.G. (1991) The emergence of desakota regions in Asia: expanding a hypothesis. In: N. Ginsberg, B. Koppel and T.G. McGee
(eds.) The Extended Metropolis: Settlement Transition in Asia. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, pp. 3-25.

Conference or Symposium proceedings

Kuentzel, W.F. (1996) (ed.) Proceedings of the 1996 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. 31 March to 2 April 1996,
Bolton Landing, New York. General Technical Report NE-232. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Northeastern Forest
Experiment Station, Radnor, PA, 309 pp.

Journal article
Marton, A.M. and McGee, T.G. (1996) New patterns of mega-urban development in China: the experience of Kunsha. Asian
Geographer 15 (1/2): 49-70.

Website materials
Planning Department. Study on Sustainable Development for the 21st Century: Final Report
http://www.info.gov.hk/planning/p_study/comp_s/susdev/final_hp/final.htm
Accessed on September 7, 2001.
 Writing A Scientific Research Article

• Cite other people’s work properly using the “Harvard” reference style.
• Include both “in-text” citation and a reference section.

in-text citation

Single author work: Gernet, 1996

Two authors: Xu & Cheng, 2002
Three or more: Chen et al., 2012

Reference section

Li et al., 2019 GRL

Notes:
1. Details for coursework submission:
• Deadlines: 5 p.m. Thursday, 15 April 2021
• Submit soft copy (.pdf* or .doc) on Moodle.
*pdf file is preferred.
• Cover page must be included.
• Penalty for late submission: 5% per day.
• Any assignment submitted ten calendar days after the deadline will
not be accepted for assessment and will therefore be awarded a zero
mark.

2. Plagiarism and copyright: Please do NOT copy materials from internet or

any other sources.
• Penalty for plagiarism : Fail grade.
Notes:
3. Must include a cover page (available on Moodle) showing your student ID
AND class number.
4. The preferred word limit: 2,000-2,500.
 GEOG1016
Lecture Overview

Week Topic Date Teacher

Introduction to natural resources and sustainable
1 21 Jan Li
development
2 Sustainable management of forests I 28 Jan Li
3 Sustainable management of forests II 04 Feb Li
4 Sustainable management of forests III 11 Feb Li
5 Non-renewable and renewable resources 25 Feb Ran
6 Water resource and its sustainable management I 04 Mar Ran
7 Water resource and its sustainable management II 18 Mar Ran
8 Water resource and its sustainable management III 25 Mar Ran
9 Land degradation and sustainable management I 01 Apr Lafortezza
10 Land degradation and sustainable management II 08 Apr Lafortezza
11 Biodiversity richness and its sustainability I 15 Apr Lafortezza
12 Biodiversity richness and its sustainability II 22 Apr Lafortezza
 Definition of Forest
 Forest definition by FAO (2000) - adopt in our course

• United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO; 2000)

Land with tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of more than 10 % and
area of more than 0.5 ha. The trees should be able to reach a minimum height
of 5 m at maturity in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under
agricultural or urban land use.

 Other wooded land

Land with a canopy cover of 5-10 percent of trees able to reach a height of 5 m
in situ; or a canopy cover of more than 10 percent when smaller trees, shrubs
and bushes are included.
 Other land
Any land not classified as forest or other wooded land as defined above.
• Agricultural and urban areas, barren land
• May have tree cover – when the tree cover fulfils the threshold values in
the Forest definition, it is reported as Other land with tree cover
• Other land with tree cover may produce timber, fuelwood and wood for
other purposes
 Types of Forest
• Natural forests
̶ Primary forests are forests of native tree species, where there
are no clearly visible indications of human activities and the
ecological processes are not significantly disturbed.
̶ Other naturally regenerated forests
Secondary forests regenerate on native forests, which have been
cleared by natural or man made causes. They display a major
difference in forest structure and/or species composition with
respect to primary forests.
 Types of Forest
- low biodiversity
• Planted forests are forests artificially established by planting
or seeding. The trees usually belong to the same specie
(whether native or introduced), have the same age and are
regularly spaced.
̶ The objective can be the production of wood and non-wood
goods (productive forests) or the provision of ecosystem services
(protective forests).
 Types of Forest
• Evergreen forests
̶ Forests dominant with trees that have leaves throughout the
year.

• Deciduous forests
̶ Forests dominant with trees that lose all of their leaves for part
of the year.
̶ Deciduous trees shed their leaves usually as an adaptation to a
cold or dry/wet season.
 Types of Forest
• Broadleaf forests
̶ Forests dominant with trees that have flat leaves and produces
seeds inside of fruits.

• Coniferous (needle-leaved) forests

̶ Forests dominant with trees that have needle-like or scale-like
leaves and seeds borne in woody cones.

• Mixed forests
̶ Forests dominated by a mixture of broadleaf trees and conifers.
 Biome as a function of T and P
- biome is greatly dependent on distribution of temp & precipitation

Annual Precipitation

Annual Temperature
 Changes in Forest Area
• The world’s forest area has declined from 4.1 billion ha to just
under 4 billion ha during 1990-2015, a decrease of 3.1 percent.
• The rate of global forest area net loss has slowed by more than 50
percent between the periods 1990–2000 and 2010–2015.
• This is a result of a combination of reduced forest area loss in some
countries and increased gains in others. It appears that net forest
area change has stabilized over the past decade.
Changes in Forest Area
Annual change in forest area (1990-2015)
 Changes in Forest Area
Annual change in forest area (1990-2015)

highest rate
highest rate
 Philippines 5th out of 234 countries on forest gain

• Annual loss of forest cover nationwide reached almost 47,000 hectares

from 2003 to 2010, according to Philippines Forest Management Bureau.
• The government launched National Greening Program in 2011 to reforest
some 1.5 million hectares of open, denuded and degraded land by 2016.
• The country increased its forest area to 240,000 hectares per year from
2010 to 2015.
• Reforestation through the government’s NGP covered 1.6 million hectares
of land as of December 2017 .
- tropical countries
= high temp & precipitation
= trees can grow easily there
= so, very successful forest gain

remains ~20%
= very severe forest loss

The Philippine Star

February 21, 2016
 Changes in Forest Area
Annual change in forest area (1990-2015)

• Most of the forest converted to other land uses between 1990-2015

was in the tropical domain. Temperate has a gain.
• Forest area per capita decreased mostly in tropical domain as well.
high income have forest gain
low income suffer from forest loss

biggest
loss Boreal
biggest reduction
= tropical domain
Tropical
Subtropical

Temperate
 Natural and Planted Forest Area
(1990-2015)

- increased planted forest

- in total has loss in natural forest, but gain in planted forest
Natural and Planted Forest Area
- forest gain in all climatic domain
(1990-2015)

- in Europe, not much change in forest area

- big decrease in africa & south africa

Source: FAO Global Forest Resource

Assessment 2015
 Deforestation
• Deforestation is the conversion of forest to other land use or
the long-term reduction of the tree canopy cover below the
minimum 10 percent threshold.
• Forest are exploited since early times for humans to meet
human demand. -- started deforestation long time ago
just at the time only simple tools & low population
- so, the rate of deforestation is lower than now
- now = speed up the rate due to industrialisation & larger population

purpose
- climate is suitable for human survival
- for agriculture
 Causes for Deforestation
• Conversion of forest to agriculture: the overwhelming direct
cause of deforestation
– Accounts for 2/3 of destruction in Africa
– Conversion to soy farming and cattle ranching is most common in
Latin America
Subsistence agriculture is a self-sufficiency farming system in which the
farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their entire
families (e.g., Indonesia).
Intensive agriculture involves various types of agriculture with higher
levels of input and output per cubic unit of agricultural land area (e.g.,
Brazil). in north & south america

Subsistence agriculture Intensive agriculture

 Causes for Deforestation
• Logging
– Large scale commercial logging no more a big concern
– Private logging continues and hard to monitor and regulate, esp.
those by the poor.
– Building roads to remove trees also allows entry to forest by
farmers, miners, hunters.
• Fires destroy 350 million hectares of forest/year
– Both natural and anthropogenic
– Many of these are set intentionally to clear land for other uses.
Australian bushfire 2019-20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQpBiYI_7M0
 Causes for Deforestation

• Fuel wood and biofuel production

– Biofuel production is responsible for forest destruction in
Southeast Asia.
• i.e., oil palm plantations produce oil for cooking, industrial
use and biodiesel production.
• Urbanization
• Construction of industries and roads, dams, etc.
Other cause of forest loss: Acid Rain

Jizera Mountains in Central Europe

 Acid deposition
by air pollution from fossil fuel

• Acid deposition formed when sulfur and

nitrogen oxides produced as by-products of
combustion and industrial activity are converted
into acids during complex atmospheric reactions.
• Acid deposition, which consists of rain, snow,
dust, or gas with a pH lower than 5.6, is
commonly called acid rain.
 Acid Rain Formation
fossil fuel for power plant & transportation

Wind
Transformation to
sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
and nitric acid (HNO3) Windborne ammonia gas
and some soil particles
partially neutralize acids Wet acid depostion
and form dry sulfate and (droplets of H2SO4
Nitric oxide (NO) nitrate salts and HNO3 dissolved
Sulfur dioxide Dry acid deposition in rain and snow)
(SO2) and NO (sulfur dioxide gas and
particles of sulfate and
Acid nitrate salts)
fog fall on ground due to gravity
Lakes in shallow
Lakes in deep
soil low in
soil high in
limestone
limestone are
become acidic
buffered
Acid Deposition Has a Number of
Harmful Effects

 Cause human respiratory disorders

 Acidification of surface/ground water, and
damage aquatic ecosystems
 Release of toxic metals
 Leaching of soil nutrients
 Loss of crops and trees
 Damage to buildings, statues, and monuments
 Emissions

SO2 NOx
Acid
HO
deposition 2 2 O3
PANs Others

Direct damage to Reduced Increased

leaves and bark photosynthesis susceptibility to
and growth drought, extreme
cold, insects,
mosses, and
disease organisms

penetrate into soil

Soil acidification Tree death

Leaching Release Root Reduced nutrient

of soil Acids of toxic damage and water uptake
nutrients metal ions

Lake

Groundwater
Regions Affected by Acid Rain

Potential problem areas because of sensitive soils

Potential problem areas because of air pollution:

emissions leading to acid deposition
Current problem areas (including lakes and rivers)
Acid Rain in China

- economic activities = coal = intensify the air pollution problem

- southern china = serious acid rain
 SOLUTIONS
Acid Deposition
Prevention Cleanup
Reduce coal use
Add lime to
Burn low-sulfur coal neutralize acidified
lakes
Increase natural gas use
Add phosphate
Increase use of
fertilizer to
renewable energy
neutralize acidified
resources
lakes

Remove NOx from motor

vehicular exhaust

Tax emissions of SO2

Reduce air pollution by

improving energy root cause = human activities
efficiency - cause air pollution
- cause acid rain
 positive feedback

- tree death
negative release CO2 into air
- more sever climate change
Changes in Forest Area

Natural and Planted Forest Area

(1990-2015)

Source: FAO Global Forest Resource

Assessment 2015
 Tropical Forests Especially Threatened

• Tropical forests occupy less than 10% of land surface but

contain half of all plant, animal and bacterial species on
earth.
• 13 million hectares are deforested every year.
• Replanting or succession accounts for re-vegetation of
5.7 million hectare per year this results in a net loss of
7.3 million hectares per year.
• At the current rate of deforestation, no primary forest
will be left in many regions in Africa and Southeast Asia
by the end of this century.
Tropical Forests Especially Threatened
• Africa, SA and Oceania have a net loss in forest area.
• Asia, Europe and NA gained forests or remained
stable b/c of reforestation.
• The highest rate of deforestation is in Burundi (9%
loss annually).
 Temperate Forests Also Threatened
• Although the total forest area in NA has remained constant,
forest management policies continue to be controversial.
• Large areas of the Temperate Rainforest in the Pacific
Northwest have been set aside to protect endangered species.
• Logging is still allowed in surrounding lands, resulting in
fragmented old growth forest habitat. preservation should be done
• Road building in wilderness areas is especially controversial as
it causes erosion and allows potential access for extractive
activities like mining. or hunting

Total forest area and annual net change

during 2000-2005.
 Temperate Forests Also Threatened

• Climate change, insect threats and wildfires are also grave

threats to temperate forests.
• Rising global temperatures can trigger droughts which
make trees more vulnerable to insect infestations and fires.

Drought and beetle-killed

Mountain Pines in Alaska
Forested Hillside
Oxygen How forests work
released by
vegetation

Diverse
ecological Evapotranspiration
habitat
Trees reduce soil
erosion from heavy
rain and wind

Agricultural
Steady land
river flow

Leaf litter
improves soil
fertility

Tree roots stabilize Vegetation releases

soil and aid water water slowly and
flow reduces flooding
After Deforestation

Tree plantation

Evapotranspiration decreases
Roads
destabilize
Ranching accelerates
hillsides
soil erosion by water
and wind
Winds remove fragile
Gullies and topsoil
landslides
Agricultural land is
flooded and silted up

Heavy rain leaches

nutrients from soil and
erodes topsoil
Rapid runoff
Silt from erosion blocks rivers and reservoirs causes flooding
and causes flooding downstream
 in dry climate/
dry regions

loss of forest resources

air becomes drier,

less favorable for
inland water cycle
Loss of biodiversity: Loss of flora and fauna result
into loss of biodiversity, leading to disturbance in
ecological balance worldwide.
loss of woods, plants, animals
risk at their lives when changing habitat

habitat fragmentation
Deforestation and collapse of civilization
 Deforestation and collapse of civilization

in southeast asia

Collapse of Angkor Civilization Southeast Asia circa the 900s

- may be caused by monsoon failure & droughts or deforestation
- intensify the dry condition

Angkor: ~AD 802 - 1431

 Global Climate
Change

• Identifiable change in the climate of

Earth as a whole that lasts for an
extended period of time (decades or
longer)
– When due to natural processes, it is usually
referred to as climate variability or natural
climate change.
– Nowadays often refers to changes forced
by human activities.
emission of greenhouse gases by fossil fuels
 Weather vs. Climate
• Weather refers to the state of the atmosphere at a
given time and place. It is constantly changing,
sometimes from hour to hour and other times from
day to day.
• Climate is the average of daily weather parameters
over many years (typically >30yrs) and characterizes
seasons as well as geography.
based on temp & precipitation
 Weather vs. Climate
• Weather refers to the state of the atmosphere at a
given time and place. It is constantly changing,
sometimes from hour to hour and other times from
day to day.
• Climate is the average of daily weather parameters
over many years (typically >30yrs) and characterizes
seasons as well as geography.
Climate = What you expect Climatology, Climatologist
Weather = What you get Meteorology, Meteorologist
Climate tells what clothes to BUY, but
weather tells what clothes to WEAR.
 Weather vs. Climate
• Interactions between weather & climate.
• Their status are not fixed (i.e., changeable).
Direct Observations of Recent Climate Change:
Atmosphere

• Each of the last three decades has been

warmer than any preceding decade since
1850.
• Warming in recent decades is likely
unprecedented over the past six millennia.

ocean area = slower climate change than land area

Marcott et al., 2013 Science

Direct Observations of Recent Climate Change:
Ocean
• Ocean warming dominates the increase in energy stored in the climate
system, accounting for more than 90% of the energy accumulated
between 1971 and 2010 (high confidence).
--> seawater thermal expansion and sea level rise
• It is virtually certain that the upper ocean (0−700 m) warmed from 1971
to 2010, and more than 60% of the net energy increase in the climate
system is stored in the upper ocean.
Direct Observations of Recent Climate Change:
Sea Level
• The rate of sea level rise since the mid-19th century has been
larger than the mean rate during the previous two millennia
(high confidence).
• Over the period 1901–2010, global mean sea level rose by
0.19 [0.17 to 0.21] m.

Two main causes of sea level rise:

1. Thermal expansion: Water in the oceans is
warmed and expands.
2. Glacier melting: As ice sheets and glaciers
melt, they increase the amount of water in the
oceans.
Direct Observations of Recent Climate Change:
Cryosphere
• Over the last two decades, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets
have been losing mass, glaciers have continued to shrink almost
worldwide, and Arctic sea ice and Northern Hemisphere spring snow
cover have continued to decrease in extent (high confidence).
 The Climate is Changing
• Temperatures are rising
• Glacier and sea ice are melting
• Sea levels are rising
• Oceans are acidifying
intensify water cycle
• Also reflected in water cycle changes
and in extreme weather

Image courtesy of the Joint Institute for the Study of the

Atmosphere & Ocean, U. of Washington.
 The Climate is Changing
• Organisms, populations and ecological communities do
not respond to approximated global averages.

• Rather, regional changes, which are highly spatially

heterogeneous, are more relevant in the context of
ecological response to climatic change.

Temperature Precipitation
 Impacts on Major Ecosystems
• Two geographical regions of particularly high risk have been
identified in recent studies:

--- (1) tropics, due to the limited capacity of species to adapt to

moderate global warming.
low seasonal and interannual climate variability -->
animals in tropical regions
narrow thermal limits so, more vulnerable to global warming

--- (2) high northern latitude systems, because temperature

increases are projected to be large.
 Forests and Woodlands
• Climate change and forests interact strongly:
--- Air temperature, rainfall, and atmospheric CO2
concentrations are major drivers of forest productivity and
forest dynamics.
--- Forests help control climate through the large amounts of
carbon they can remove from the atmosphere or release,
through absorption or reflection of solar radiation (albedo),
cooling through evapotranspiration, and the production of
cloud-forming aerosols.
• Forests are currently a net sink for carbon at the global scale
(high confidence).
Reforestation sequestered ~4.0 PgC/yr, counterbalanced by a
release of ~2.8 PgC/yr due mostly to tropical deforestation and
forest degradation, resulting in a net carbon balance of ~1.2 PgC.
 Tropical Forests
• Forest biomass, lianas and fast-growing tree species are
increasing, consistent with increasing water use efficiency
(WUE) associated with the rising concentration of CO2.

• Forest fire frequency and severity is increasing through the

interaction between severe droughts and land use.

• Tree mortality in the Amazon region is increasing through

severe drought and increased forest fire occurrence, likely
attributed to warming.
 Savannas
• The geographical distribution of savannas is determined by
temperature, the seasonal availability of water, fire, and soil
conditions.

• Drying and greater seasonality, acting in conjunction with

increased fire, could lead to former forested areas becoming
savannas in parts of the Amazon basin.

• In many places around the world the savanna boundary is

moving into former grasslands on elevation gradients, i.e., into
areas inferred to be formerly too cool for trees.
 Temperate Forests
favor forest in temporate forest
- but more drought also make some temporate forest suffer
• The overall trend for temperate forests has until recently been
an increase in growth rates of trees and in total carbon stocks.

• Attributed to a combination of increasing growing season

length, rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations, nitrogen
deposition, and forest management.

• Extreme climate events have had a major impact on temperate

forests over the last decade.
 Boreal Forests
• A poleward expansion of boreal forests into tundra due to
warming.

• Many areas of boreal forest have instead experienced

productivity declines due to warming-induced drought.

• Warming and drying, coupled with productivity declines, insect

disturbance, and associated tree mortality, also favor greater
fire disturbance.
 Tundra and Alpine Systems
• Continued warming has caused the terrestrial vegetation of the
Arctic to change substantially (high confidence).
--- continued expansion in woody vegetation cover in tundra
regions.
--- vegetation productivity has systematically increased over
the past few decades.

• The Arctic tundra biome is experiencing increasing fire

disturbance and permafrost degradation.
 Sustainable management of forests

Week #2:
• Definition of forest
• Types of forest
• Global forest types and resources

Week #3:
• Changes in forest area
• Deforestation: Causes and effects
• Effects of climate change on forests