New study shows where we should grow more forest to fight climate change

In a new study published this week in Nature, researchers found that, globally, rates of potential forest carbon sequestration presumed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Chang (IPCC) were underestimated by 32%. When considering just tropical regions, that number went up to 53%. Conversely, the study found that the maximum climate mitigation potential from reforestation – 2.43 billion metric tons – is 11% lower than previously reported. This is because the study took a more nuanced look at potential reforestation areas whereas the IPPC applied estimates more evenly across the planet. The study reveals that China, Brazil, and Indonesia have the greatest potential for aboveground carbon sequestration in potential restoration areas, with Russia, the U.S., India, and the Democratic Republic of Congo falling closely behind. Reforestation is a major tool in the arsenal against global warming, but just how much it can help is still a bit of a mystery. But a new study published this week in Nature sheds more light on just how much carbon regrown forests can absorb and where efforts should be targeted to be the most effective, and finds that reforestation has the capacity to sop up more carbon than previously estimated – but […]

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