Forests play a critical role in combating climate change by regulating temperatures, purifying air and water, and supporting biodiversity. One of their most vital functions is forest carbon storage, as they absorb and retain carbon dioxide in trees and soil, helping to mitigate global warming. While oceans also serve as carbon sinks, forests offer a …
Peatlands cover only 3% of Earth’s surface yet store nearly one-third of the world’s carbon—twice the amount sequestered by all forests combined. This makes them crucial ecosystems in the fight against climate change, but only 17% currently receive protection, leaving them vulnerable to degradation that worsens our climate crisis.
In Finnish Lapland, Tiina Sanila-Aikio, former president of the Finnish Sami parliament, has witnessed a record-hot, dry summer in the region. This warming trend is visibly affecting the Sami homeland, where conifer trees are turning orange, and the typically lush moss is drying out. These boreal forests and peatlands, which are critical for absorbing carbon, …
While carbon in Earth’s atmosphere and within living organisms is well-documented, a substantial but often overlooked reservoir exists in the planet’s soil—specifically in the form of soil inorganic carbon. A new study published in Science highlights that this type of carbon is far more prevalent than previously understood, making it a significant component of the …
Continue reading “Revealing soil inorganic carbon’s global impact”
Norway is at the forefront of pioneering carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies with its ambitious Longship project, aimed at establishing a comprehensive value chain for capturing and storing carbon dioxide.
The concept of Enhanced Weathering Carbon Removal is gaining momentum as a potentially significant method for removing billions of tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere, thus aiding global efforts to achieve net zero emissions and mitigate the most dangerous effects of climate change. This method involves spreading crushed silicate rocks, such as volcanic basalt, across …
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The report, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Forest Service International Program, challenges the prevailing notion that logging invariably degrades tropical forests. It proposes a shift from exploitative “timber mining” to a more sustainable “managed forestry” model, emphasizing that poor logging practices are likely to persist in a …
Continue reading “Can we sustainably harvest trees from tropical forests?”
Forest conservation and restoration are critical for addressing the climate crisis, as highlighted by a comprehensive study in the journal Nature. This research, involving numerous forest ecologists, emphasizes that if greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced, existing forests can sequester about 226 gigatonnes of carbon, akin to nearly 50 years of U.S. emissions as of …
Recent research based on data from the European Space Agency’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission has shed light on the role of forests in carbon capture, with surprising findings.
Current methods for accounting for natural carbon storage, such as forests, in climate change mitigation efforts do not adequately address the risk of carbon loss due to disturbances, whether natural or human-caused.
