Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity

Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity
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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIODIVERSITY AND GLOBAL WARMING
Michal Kravcik, Jaroslav Tesliar, Jan Hronsky, Robert Zvara
Non profit organization People and Water
Prazska 4, 040 11 Kosice
Slovakia,
Tel./fax: 00421 95 6428 184
E-mail: mvolav@changenet.sk
http://www.peopleandwater.sk
Keywords: Global warming; Slovakia
Problem of the climate change is more difficult than so far known hypotheses about the greenhouse effect
developed by the pollution in the atmosphere. We are offering you the following facts that may help you to
understand coherence between the global warming and water in a nature. Sustainable ecosystems and
balanced water in it is an necessary condition for variety and richness of fauna and flora species, e.g. for
biodiversity. This relationship we have described, on the bases of knowing the connections of draining the
Earth’s surface by the influence of human activities on the landscape. On the base of knowing the period and
space changes of hydrological cycle of Slovakia in the 20-th century we have described the algorithm of the
space-time changes of hydrological cycle for global ecosystem of the Earth. By this we would like to offer
unconventional look on the algorithm of the possible scenarios of global warming for the 21-th century and
influencing that biodiversity.
The Slovak Example
The average rainfall in Slovakia gets up to 700-mm. The dry period in January and February and the wettest
period is from May till August (graph no.1). In Slovakia falls a year about 34,5 mld. m3 water in the rain form
per year. From Slovakia flows away at about 33% (11.5-mld. m 3 per year) of the water flows out from
watersheds and 23,0 mld. m 3 stays in the country and is a part of small hydrological cycle. The total length of
the rivers and streams in Slovakia is 48.000 km. The area of Slovakia is 49. 060 km2 with 5.3 million
inhabitants. There is 41% of the forests, 57% of agricultural and other lands and 2% of urban areas in more
than 2.800 villages and towns.
In the 20 century was a long time decrease of rainfall in Slovakia of 5.6%. The periods are extending without
any rain. There is a long-term drop of volume of the rainfall of 3,5 mld. m 3 in the months from September to
May every year. There is frequent appearance of extreme intensive rainfalls in the summer month (Jun –
August) and also general trend growth of volume of the rainfall in the mentioned summer month of 1,5 mld.
m 3 . In the upland (mountains) areas now it rains more and in the valleys less than in the past. The general
outflow of volume of water is also decreasing but not so intensively. A year fall of the outflow is 1,58 mld. m 3 ,
while the year’s fall of volume of the rainfall gets up to 2 mld. m 3 . That means that Slovakia drying up.
A year’s fall of water in the wetlands exceeds 1%. In the 20th century the decrease in water reached
approximately 12 mld. m 3 (See table. 1). The fall of the water supplies in process of last 100 years, may logically
reach 100%. As a result, the process of draining may cause complete drainage in the wetlands. This process was
started soon after the World War Second. Result of the drainage process is that the long-term rainfalls are
decreasing, but their intensity is increasing, very much like the periods with no rain that are extending. The
baked out agricultural and urbanised country overheats faster with the result that differences between the
temperatures of the Earth’s surface between the valleys and mountain are raising. This increased difference
of temperatures means that in mountain areas rains more and intensively in the valleys less. The periods with
no rain are extending and also in the warm summer months rains more and in the other months less than
in the past. At the regional level it results in an increase of extreme rainfalls with frequent occurrence in the
no rain periods.
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