Cary Institute: Forest carbon storage has declined across much of the Western US, likely due to drought and fire

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https://www.caryinstitute.org/news-insights/press-release/forest-carbon-storage-has-declined-across-much-western-us-likely-due

Forest carbon storage has declined across much of the Western US, likely due to drought and fire
New study provides a framework to evaluate future changes and inform management strategies to mitigate carbon loss

JULY 11, 2024

Forests have been embraced as a natural climate solution, due to their ability to soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, locking it up in their trunks, branches, leaves, and roots. But a new study confirms widespread doubts about the potential for most forests in the Western US to help curb climate change.

Published in Earth’s Future, the paper analyzed trends in carbon storage across the American West from 2005 to 2019. Led by Jazlynn Hall, a forest and landscape ecologist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the team found that throughout most of the region, climate change and fires may be causing forests to store less carbon, not more.

“There’s a lot of momentum to use forests as natural climate solutions,” said Hall. “Many climate mitigation pathways rely in part on additional forest carbon storage to keep warming below 1.5 degrees C this century. We wanted to provide a baseline for how much carbon is currently stored in Western forests, how it’s changing, and how disturbances like fire and drought pose a threat to climate mitigation targets.”

The authors warn that many Western forests could see a rapid acceleration of carbon loss in the coming years or decades. “These challenges have the potential to compromise carbon storage capacity and undermine our ability to mitigate climate change,” Hall cautions.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2023EF004399