UN forum on forests; Analysis shows forests becoming net carbon sources

New York

…The warning from scientists that forests are in danger of flipping from a net sink to a net source of carbon emerged from an exhaustive analysis of how different forest ecosystems worldwide would be affected under specific climate change scenarios developed by the Nobel-prize winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

In fact, the authors found that the risk of losing forests as a net carbon sink is significant even in relatively conservative scenarios in which countries achieve modest emissions reductions and stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations. The loss becomes much more likely in scenarios where curbs fail to take effect and emissions continue on their current, upward trend.

EurekAlert