2023-11-23 07:00:05
As the 28th World Climate Conference (COP28) approaches in the United Arab Emirates, natural carbon reservoirs are emerging as major players. After oceans and soils, forests constitute the largest carbon “sinks”, thus absorbing a quantity (Quantity is a term generic of metrology (count, amount); a scalar,…) enormous amount of carbon dioxide (Carbon dioxide, commonly called carbon dioxide or carbon dioxide, is a…) of the atmosphere (The word atmosphere can have several meanings :). However, precisely estimating this quantity and evaluating their potential with better forest management remains complex.
Image d’illustration Pixabay
In a recent study published in the scientific journal Nature, a team of more than two hundred researchers from around the world presents new estimates of storage potential. Coordinated by ETH Zurich, this study benefited from important methodological contributions from the GFZ.
According to this study, forests might theoretically absorb up to 328 billion tonnes (or gigatons, Gt) of carbon. However, with the conversion of many forest areas into agricultural or urban land, this potential is reduced to 226 Gt. Protecting existing forests might make it possible to reach 139 Gt (or 61%), while the remaining 87 Gt (39% ) might be achieved by reconnecting fragmented forest landscapes and managing them sustainably.
To arrive at this estimate, the researchers crossed satellite data with records of the state of forests and biomass (In ecology, biomass is the total quantity of matter (mass) of all species…) taken in the field. They also integrated data on carbon storage in forest soils, dead wood and litter. Martin Herold, co-author of the study and head of the remote sensing and geoinformatics section of the GFZ, underlines the importance of “combining in a manner systematic (In life sciences and natural history, systematics is the science which has for…) carbon measurements by satellite (Satellite can refer to:) and in the field, thus opening new perspectives for understanding global carbon stocks and their potential.
Despite the highlighted potential, deforestation persists on a global scale, putting forests under increasing pressure. This pressure is further accentuated with the almost uninterrupted emissions of greenhouse gases. for a given absorption of energy…), accelerating global warming (Global warming, also called global warming, or…) and thus impacting forests.
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