Palm oil 'accelerating' climate change

摘要

Growing oil palm to make 'green' bio-fuels in the tropics could be accelerating the effects of climate change, scientists from Bangor University have said. Research has found that the creation of oil palm plantations are releasing prehistoric sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) back into the atmosphere. Working as part of an international team, the University has looked at how the deforestation of peat swamps in Malaysia to make way for palm oil trees is releasing carbon which has been locked away for thousands of years. It is feared this carbon will be attacked by microbes and produce CO2.