New global study identifies opportunities for increasing carbon storage on land to mitigate climate change

The Climate Research Center is owned by Woodwell.

The Global Potential for Increased Storage of Carbon on Land was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study is timely, coming on the heels of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's latest report, which focuses on the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions in order to limit future warming.

Dr. Wayne Walker is the Carbon Program Director at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. The data and conceptual framework of this study are provided.

Researchers quantified the potential carbon storage of both above- and below-ground wood and soil organic carbon and found that there were over 300 petagrams of undiscovered carbon storage. The potential for expanding land-based carbon capture is shown in the findings. More than 75% of the potential is offered by improved management of existing forests alone, with the majority concentrated in the tropics.

Peter Ellis, director of natural climate solutions science at The Nature Conservancy and study co-author, said that forest stewardship is the greatest opportunity for realizing carbon removal and storage in the near term.

The results of the study show that land can be used as a natural climate solution, but this work cannot stop there.

The findings will prove valuable for many countries, since natural climate solutions figure heavily in delivering Paris Agreement commitments in most countries, however, these results must be combined with a range of other information to prioritize and effectively implement natural climate solutions.

Land-based, natural climate solutions are important for driving large-scale greenhouse gas emissions reductions and enhanced removal. These efforts require globally consistent frameworks in order to accurately address current gaps and inform landscape-level planning. A critical dataset was introduced in the study.

More information: The global potential for increased storage of carbon on land, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2111312119 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Provided by Woodwell Climate Research Center Citation: New global study identifies opportunities for increasing carbon storage on land to mitigate climate change (2022, May 30) retrieved 30 May 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-05-global-opportunities-carbon-storage-mitigate.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.