. Earth Science News .
WOOD PILE
Forests can be risky climate investments to offset greenhouse gas emissions
by Staff Writers
Flagstaff AZ (SPX) Jun 19, 2020

stock image

Forests can be risky climate investments to offset greenhouse gas emissions, say scientists

Given the tremendous ability of forests to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, some governments are counting on planted forests as offsets for greenhouse gas emissions--a sort of climate investment. As with any investment, however, it's important to understand the risks. If a forest goes bust--through severe droughts or wildfires, researchers say--much of that stored carbon could go up in smoke.

Professor Scott Goetz of Northern Arizona University's School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems and associate professor Deborah Huntzinger of NAU's School of Earth and Sustainability co-authored a paper published in Science finding that forests can be best deployed in the fight against climate change with a proper understanding of the risks to forests that climate change itself imposes.

"There have been optimistic assessments of how valuable forests could be in mitigating climate change over coming decades," said Goetz, "but all of those have somewhat surprisingly overlooked or underestimated the factors that constrain forest carbon sequestration in the face of extreme temperatures, drought, fire and insect disturbance. This paper tempers that enthusiasm while also more realistically recognizing the potential of forests to remove massive amounts of heat trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere."

A workshop held in 2019 gathered some of the foremost experts on climate change risks to forests. The diverse group, including Goetz and Huntzinger, represented various disciplines, including law, economics, science and public policy, and the workshop enabled the participants to start talking and come up with a roadmap.

This paper, part of that roadmap, calls attention to the risks forests face from myriad consequences of rising global temperatures, including fire, drought, insect damage and human disturbance - a call to action to bridge the divide between the data and models produced by scientists and the actions taken by policymakers.

"Terrestrial ecosystems absorb and store about a third of the carbon emissions human activities release each year," said Huntzinger, "reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that accumulates in the atmosphere year after year. As a result, land ecosystems serve as a thermostat of sorts, regulating climate by helping to control carbon dioxide levels."

Because of this, governments in many countries are looking to "forest-based natural climate solutions" that include preventing deforestation, managing natural forests and reforesting. Forests could be some of the more cost-effective climate mitigation strategies, with co-benefits for biodiversity, conservation and local communities.

But built into this strategy is the idea that forests are able to store carbon for at least 50 to 100 years. Such permanence is not always a given, with the very real chance that the carbon stored in forest mitigation projects could go up in flames or be lost due to insect infestations, severe drought or hurricanes in the coming decades.

Forests have long been vulnerable to all of these factors, and have been able to recover from them when they are episodic or come one at a time. However, the risks connected with climate change, including drought and fire, increase over time. Multiple threats at once, or insufficient time for forests to recover from those threats, can kill the trees, release carbon and undermine the entire premise of forest-based natural climate solutions.

"Not fully accounting for the range of climate- and human-driven risks to forests can result in an overestimation of the carbon storage potential of forest-based mitigation projects," said Huntzinger. "Good science can better help identify and quantify risks to forest carbon stocks and lead to better policy decisions."

The paper's authors encourage scientists to focus increased attention on assessing forest climate risks and share the best of their data and predictive models with policymakers so that climate strategies including forests can have the best long-term impact.

For example, the climate models that scientists use are detailed and cutting-edge, but aren't widely used outside the scientific community--so policymakers might be relying on science that is decades old.

"There are at least two key things you can do with this information," said lead author William Anderegg of The University of Utah. "The first is to optimize investment in forests and minimize risks. Science can guide and inform where we ought to be investing to achieve different climate aims and avoid risks."

The second, he said, is to mitigate risks through forest management. "If we're worried about fire as a major risk in a certain area, we can start to think about what are the management tools that make a forest more resilient to that disturbance." More research, he said, is needed in this field, and the collaborators plan to work toward answering those questions.

"We view this paper as an urgent call to both policymakers and the scientific community," Anderegg said, "to study this more, and improve in sharing tools and information across different groups."

Research paper


Related Links
Northern Arizona University
Forestry News - Global and Local News, Science and Application


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


WOOD PILE
Brazilian Amazon deforestation hits new record in May
Rio De Janeiro (AFP) June 12, 2020
Deforestation continued to surge in the Brazilian Amazon last month, according to official figures released Friday, showing it was the worst May and worst first five months of the year on record. Environmentalists warn 2020 is on track to be the most destructive year ever for the world's biggest rainforest, with even more losses than in devastating fires that triggered global outcry last year. "We are facing a scenario of total catastrophe for the Amazon," Mariana Napolitano, scientific director ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

WOOD PILE
Amazon unveils visual aid to workplace distancing

Parking in a pandemic

Facebook blocks white nationalists organizing move on protests

China says US protests show 'chronic disease' of racism

WOOD PILE
A breakthrough in developing multi-watt terahertz lasers

Oracle shares slump on earnings hit by pandemic

The first intuitive programming language for quantum computers

Freshly printed magnets using Metal 3D laser printing

WOOD PILE
Sudan wants PMs to solve Nile dam deadlock

Egypt accuses Ethiopia of holding it "hostage" in Nile dam talks

New International Ocean Satellite Completes Testing

Uproar as Uganda pursues plan to dam waterfall in national park

WOOD PILE
Western half of Antarctica warming faster than eastern half, new study shows why

Tiny sand grains trigger massive glacial surges

US opens consulate in Greenland capital

Russian mayor charged over failure to contain Arctic spill

WOOD PILE
Space synergies for food security

Tragic yarn: India-China border spat hits global cashmere production

Eight killed in Indian pesticide factory blast

Ancient burial site in Belize reveals when people started eating maize

WOOD PILE
Quake strikes east Turkey, 1 dead

6.6-magnitude quake strikes off coast of Japan: USGS

Dozens killed as south China hit by floods and rainstorms

Study proves that magma chambers can be totally molten

WOOD PILE
Mass grave found of Sudanese conscripts killed in 1998: prosecutor

Foreign army incursions, clashes on the rise in DR Congo

About 10 dead in jihadist attack on I.Coast border post

Protests erupt in Djibouti over detention of military officer

WOOD PILE
Discovery of oldest bow and arrow technology in Eurasia

US top court in landmark ruling to protect LGBT workers

Tiny songbird is East Asia's 'oldest' carved artwork

DNA helps researchers understand interactions between Stone Age cultures









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.