Policymakers often ignore forest regeneration in fight against climate change, research finds
These so-called secondary forests, which have regenerated themselves after being razed, often for agriculture, can help bring the world closer to the net-zero emissions target needed to slow global warming, the research published in the journal Nature Climate Change, opens new tab shows.
That is because these young forests, which are made of trees between two and four decades old, can remove carbon from the atmosphere up to eight times faster per hectare than forests that were just planted, they found.
It comes as companies worldwide are raising millions of dollars to regrow forests from scratch to generate carbon credits they can sell to polluting industries seeking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.
Secondary forests, on the other hand, are often not allowed to regenerate themselves for long enough to benefit the climate, either because they are cleared or because they fall prey to fires or pests.
Across the tropics, they found, only 6% of secondary forests reach two decades of regrowth.
"It's a constant cycle of deforestation," said Nathaniel Robinson, one of the authors and a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry. He added that their vulnerability "is likely tied to policy loopholes."
Robin Chazdon, a research professor at the Forest Research Institute of the University of the Sunshine Coast, in Australia, who was not involved, said the refined evaluation of the global carbon mitigation potential of regrowing forests had important implications that could shape new climate policy.
Last week, Reuters revealed how a loophole in the Amazon Soy Moratorium, an agreement signed by the world's top grain traders that they would not buy soy grown on recently deforested land, has allowed Brazilian farmers to market soy grown in razed secondary forests as deforestation-free.
The Moratorium, like many conservation policies around the world, protects old-growth rainforests, but not regrown ones. In the Brazilian Amazon, half of secondary forests are cleared within eight years of regrowing, the scientists found.
"The most rapid and largest carbon removal comes from these young secondary forests," said Susan Cook-Patton, a reforestation scientist at The Nature Conservancy, and one of the authors. But, she added, these forests "just aren't often appreciated."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
5 hours ago
- Sky News
Millions of people threatened by wildfires near their homes, research finds
Why you can trust Sky News The number of people whose lives or property are at risk from wildfires has surged by almost 40% in just two decades, according to new research. Analysis by an international team of scientists showed that 440 million people were threatened by fire encroaching on their homes between 2002 and 2021. And while the area affected decreased over the study period, the number of people affected each year rose by 7.7 million. Dr Matthew Jones, from the University of East Anglia, told Sky News that a combination of climate change and population movements is driving the increase. "We're seeing hotter, drier conditions, and that's leading to more fire-prone weather," he said. "We're also seeing people migrating more and more into areas that are historically fire-prone. In the western US, we see this idyllic, romantic image of living closer to nature. "And that's a trend which is putting people closer to fire-prone landscapes than in the past." The researchers analysed 18.6 million records of wildfires over 20 years. High-profile disasters in the US, Europe and Australia grab public attention, but they only account for 2.5% of the global burned area, according to results published in the journal Science. The vast majority of affected land - 85% - is in Africa. But that is falling as more savannah scrub and grassland is taken over by agriculture - a change so significant that it shows up in global totals, with a 26% fall in land burned over the study period. "The apparent increase in damaging and destructive wildfire impacts on society has until now seemed perplexing because the area burned by fires globally has been falling," said Dr Jones. He added: "By closely analysing the shifting geography of both fire and population, this study brings vital clarity - our work shows that wildfires really are becoming more frequent and intense in populated areas. "These changes bring danger to life, damage to property, and threat to livelihood." The researchers say the increasing vulnerability of human populations to wildfire underlines the urgent need for proactive measures to protect communities. That could include deliberately starting small, controlled fires to burn off vegetation, so it doesn't build up.
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
Victoria's mountain ash forests could lose a quarter of ‘giant' trees as temperatures rise
Victoria's mountain ash forests are thinning rapidly as the globe heats up, and could lose a quarter of their 'giant' trees that grow up to 80m tall in the coming decades, research has found. Forests of Eucalyptus regnans – one of the tallest tree species in the world – lose about 9% of their trees for every degree of warming, according to a University of Melbourne-led study published in Nature Communications. 'These are giants,' said lead author Dr Raphael Trouve. 'They are the tallest flowering plant on Earth – that means they regularly reach 60 to 80m tall.' Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter The researchers analysed data collected from mountain ash forests over more than 50 years to determine tree mortality rates and forest carrying capacity – the maximum number of trees of a given size that the forest can sustain. They found that forests growing in the warmest conditions had the lowest carrying capacity, which further decreased with rising temperatures. 'We found that for each extra degree of temperature, the number of trees that the forest can sustain drops by 9%,' Trouve said. 'By 2080 – with three extra degrees, as we expect – that tallies up to around a quarter of the trees gone.' The estimated forest loss did not include the additional impact of bushfires, which are expected to grow in severity as the earth warms up. The forest thinning was thought to be the result of increased competition for limited resources. 'A growing tree needs space and resources to survive,' Trouve said. 'Under resource-limited conditions, such as water stress, a big tree will outcompete smaller, surrounding trees, causing their deaths.' Changes in forest carrying capacity would likely have knock-on effects. 'Its not just about trees, it's about the carbon they store, the planet we need, the water we drink,' he said. Mountain ash forests are considered one of the Earth's most carbon-dense ecosystems, storing more carbon per hectare than the Amazon. But as more trees died and decomposed, the forests would eventually shift from carbon sinks into sources of emissions, the study said. Sign up to Clear Air Australia Adam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisis after newsletter promotion 'Climate change is stressing forests all over the world, and that can be exacerbating the rate of thinning' said Dr David Bowman, a professor of fire science at the University of Tasmania with a background in eucalypt ecology, who was not involved in the study. Bowman said climate change – and the combination of heatwaves, rising temperatures and chronic droughts – was placing forests under enormous stress globally, and particularly affected those in mid-latitude, temperate environments. Giant trees were particularly vulnerable. 'They're getting exhausted,' he said. Then, as forests were dying and thinning, they became more open and more flammable, as fuel – in the form of leaf matter, litter, fine branches and stems – accumulated in the forest. The risk of bushfire then became a 'nightmare scenario' for large trees – already struggling to survive – which would struggle to recover.
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Is YOUR hometown at risk? Terrifying interactive map reveals the towns and cities that could be plunged UNDERWATER if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapses
The idea of your hometown being plunged underwater might sound like a nightmare. But scientists have warned that it could soon become a reality. In a new study, published yesterday, researchers from the Australian National University warned that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is on the verge of a 'catastrophic' collapse. If it did collapse, experts predict the huge ice mass would raise global sea levels by more than 9.8ft (three metres) – submerging entire coastal cities and communities. Climate Central's Coastal Risk Screening Tool shows the areas around the globe that would be worst hit. Here in the UK, people living on the east coast of England would be impacted the most. Coastal hubs including Hull, Skegness and Grimsby would be plunged underwater, while places as far inland as Peterborough and Lincoln would also become waterlogged. So, is your hometown at risk? To use the tool, simply set the water level at 9.8ft (three metres) and the areas that would be plunged underwater will appear in red on the map. The UK The east coast of England would be worst impacted if sea levels rose by 9.8ft, with Hull, Skegness and Grimsby all plunged underwater. Further south, swathes of London would be affected. Several areas on the River Thames gleam red on the map, including Bermondsey, Greenwich, Battersea, and Chelsea. While the east coast of England would be most affected, several towns and cities on the west coast are also in the firing line, according to Climate Central. Neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Weston–super–Mare, Newport and Cardiff would all be plunged underwater, alongside parts of Southport and Blackpool. Residents in Northern Ireland and Scotland can mostly rest easy though, with few areas set to be affected. Europe In Europe, Climate Central predicts that the entire coast stretching from Calais to south Denmark would be underwater. In France, Montpellier would be submerged, along with Venice, Pisa, and Ravenna in Italy. Elsewhere, much of the Romanian coastline would be impacted, as well as Gdansk in Poland. The US Most of the US would be unaffected by the sea level rise, according to Climate Central's map. However, several coastal cities and communities have an uncertain future. New Orleans is no stranger to flooding, and the map shows that the coastline stretching from this city all the way to Galveston, Texas, would be underwater. In a new study, published yesterday, researchers from the Australian National University warned that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is on the verge of a 'catastrophic' collapse In Florida, several densely populated areas are also in the firing line – including Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Key West. Further up the east coast, large parts of Philadelphia, New York, and Boston would also be wiped out. South America Climate Central's map shows that several large cities along the east and northern coast would be submerged. The entire area stretching from Buenos Aires to Rosario in Argentina glares bright red on the map. Meanwhile, much of the north coast of Brazil would be underwater – including Belem, Macapa, and Santarem. Asia Asia would be one of the worst affected continents, according to Climate Central. Most of Sri Lanka's coastline would dip underwater, alongside several major cities in India - including Mumbai, Kochi, Chennai, and Kolkata. In Thailand, Bangkok and much of the surrounding area would be submerged, while in Vietnam, the entire southern tip, as well as Hanoi would be underwater. Large parts of major Japanese cities glow red on the map - including Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, and Niigata. Meanwhile, much of the east coast of China would be underwater - including the major cities of Shanghai and Beijing. Antarctica's ice sheets contain 70% of world's fresh water - and sea levels would rise by 180ft if it melts Antarctica holds a huge amount of water. The three ice sheets that cover the continent contain around 70 per cent of our planet's fresh water - and these are all to warming air and oceans. If all the ice sheets were to melt due to global warming, Antarctica would raise global sea levels by at least 183ft (56m). Given their size, even small losses in the ice sheets could have global consequences. In addition to rising sea levels, meltwater would slow down the world's ocean circulation, while changing wind belts may affect the climate in the southern hemisphere. In February 2018, Nasa revealed El Niño events cause the Antarctic ice shelf to melt by up to ten inches (25 centimetres) every year. El Niño and La Niña are separate events that alter the water temperature of the Pacific ocean. The ocean periodically oscillates between warmer than average during El Niños and cooler than average during La Niñas. Using Nasa satellite imaging, researchers found that the oceanic phenomena cause Antarctic ice shelves to melt while also increasing snowfall. In March 2018, it was revealed that more of a giant France-sized glacier in Antarctica is floating on the ocean than previously thought.
