Earth Equity News

Forests Soak up Carbon, But for How Long? By Douglas Fischer, DailyClimate, 10/18/10. “U.S. forests offset roughly 11% of the nation's industrial greenhouse gas emissions, storing ‘significant amounts’ of carbon that would otherwise pollute the atmosphere, according to new government data. The findings, released last week, estimate the nation's expanding forests sequester an additional 192 million metric tons of carbon annually due to increases in both the total area of forest land and the amount of carbon stored per acre... But as emissions increase and the planet warms, that storage capacity could be compromised. Warmer summers, changing precipitation patterns and a thinning snow pack are already ‘aridifying’ [said] Montana Professor Steve Running… Forests in the western United States store a greater proportion of carbon in the trees; other areas, such as the Great Lakes, have larger concentrations of peat in the soil, storing more carbon there. Understanding those differences -- and corresponding climate-induced changes -- could have important ramifications as the agency assesses the carbon sequestration potential of the nation's forests, agency officials said.”