“Although intact tropical forests remain major stores of carbon and are key centres of biodiversity,” the authors write, “their ability to sequester additional carbon in trees is waning.”
Lewis Pugh Swam Under the Antarctic Ice Sheet to Highlight the Effects of Climate Change
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That’s very bad news for us. According to the study, tropical forests across the globe act as “carbon sinks” and account for fully half of all the carbon stored in vegetation. If they lose their ability to store carbon, that will only accelerate the affects of climate change. As The Guardian points out, many plans for offsetting emissions involve preserving or regrowing tropical forests to do just that.
Lewis Pugh Swam Under the Antarctic Ice Sheet to Highlight the Effects of Climate Change
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Lewis Pugh Swam Under the Antarctic Ice Sheet to Highlight the Effects of Climate Change
“Humans have been lucky so far, as tropical forests are mopping up lots of our pollution,” Simon Lewis, one of the authors of the study, told The Guardian, “but they can’t keep doing that indefinitely.”
When averaged out globally, the scientists show that tropical forests reached peak carbon absorption in the 1990s—soaking up about 17 percent of human-generated CO2. By the 2010s, they estimate that rainforests were taking in just six percent, helped in part by widespread deforestation, droughts, and a massive uptick in carbon emissions. Based on that, the scientists conclude that tropical forest have already peaked as carbon sinks, and will be in “long-term decline” from here on out.
If the study did offer a shred of good news, it’s this: Forests and vegetation outside the tropics have begun to pick up some of the slack over the past two decades. The scientists found that carbon uptake across the Northern Hemisphere landmass increased in the 1990s and 2000s.
A New UN Report Shows Climate Change Is Devastating the World’s Oceans and Ice
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But most climate models—and most countries’ climate plans—rely on the power of the rainforest to soak up human-generated CO2. According to the data published here, the tropical carbon sink is on schedule to end “sooner than even the most pessimistic climate-driven vegetation models predict,” the authors write. With that in mind, Lewis had strong words for companies and governments that think purchasing emissions offsets or preserving tropical forests will be enough to stave off disaster.
A New UN Report Shows Climate Change Is Devastating the World’s Oceans and Ice
Read article
A New UN Report Shows Climate Change Is Devastating the World’s Oceans and Ice
“The use of forests as an offset is largely a marketing tool for companies to try to continue with business as usual,” he told The Guardian. “The reality is that every country and every sector needs to reach zero emissions.”
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