An Air Conditioner or a Sink?: The Bioclimatic Value of Rainforests, 1980-2000

MHS Event

This seminar will workshop a work in progress. 
The event is hybrid and free of charge. An in-person reception will begin at 4:30 PM. 

Register to attend in person

Register to attend online

In the 1980s climate scientists and ecologists began to study the relationship between forests, particularly the Brazilian rainforest, and anthropogenic climate change. This paper identifies how these scientists developed two contrasting models to highlight the bioclimatic value of rainforests: the air-conditioner and the sink. Whereas climate scientists largely highlighted the role of the Amazon in ensuring cool temperatures and frequent precipitation (an air conditioner), ecologists focused on the role of the Amazon in sequestering carbon (a carbon sink). Although frequently aligning with the rainforest biodiversity movement, these bioclimatic valuations of the rainforest sometimes contrasted in both means and ultimate goals. Indeed, the ability of models of carbon sinks to simplify and quantify the diverse rainforest environment allowed for the development of a global carbon offset market by the mid-1990s. This paper seeks to understand this shift, analyzing why carbon sequestration quickly became one of the largest drivers of land conservation in the tropics.

Join the conversation at the Environmental History Seminar.
Seminars bring together a diverse group of scholars and interested members of the public to workshop a pre-circulated paper. Learn more.

Purchasing the $25 seminar subscription gives you advance access to the seminar papers of all seven seminar series for the current academic year. Subscribe at www.masshist.org/research/seminars. Subscribers for the current year may login to view currently available essays.