{"id":31010,"date":"2023-03-16T10:10:28","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T10:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=31010"},"modified":"2023-03-16T10:10:28","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T10:10:28","slug":"carbon-sink-vulnerability-recovering-forests-highlighted-new-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/carbon-sink-vulnerability-recovering-forests-highlighted-new-study\/31010\/","title":{"rendered":"Carbon sink vulnerability of recovering forests highlighted in new study"},"content":{"rendered":"
The global study, led by the University of Bristol, has revealed the carbon sink vulnerability of recovering forests. Tropical forests are vital in the fight against climate change and have great potential as a carbon sink. However, the new data shows that new tropical deforestation and forest degradation are outstripping current rates of forest regrowth.<\/p>\n
The research, \u2018The carbon sink of secondary and degraded humid tropical forests<\/a>,\u2019 published in the journal Nature<\/em>, demonstrates the potential of these ecosystems as a carbon sink and outlines the current limits of forest regrowth to address climate change and ecological emergencies.<\/p>\n The findings revealed that degraded forests recovering from human and environmental damage, such as fire and logging, are removing at least 107 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere annually. The team used satellite data across the world\u2019s three largest tropical forests to quantify the rates of aboveground carbon stock recovery.<\/p>\n Although the results show that recovering forests have the potential as a carbon sink, the amount of carbon being taken up in aboveground forest growth only counterbalanced around a quarter (26%) of the current carbon emissions from tropical deforestation and degradation.<\/p>\n Dr Viola Heinrich, lead author of the study, said: \u201cOur study provides the first pan-tropical estimates of aboveground carbon absorption in tropical forests recovering from degradation and deforestation.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile protecting ancient tropical forests remains the priority, we demonstrate the value in sustainably managing forest areas that can recover from human disturbances.\u201d<\/p>\n The team used satellite datasets that can distinguish between different types of human disturbances, such as logging, fire, and deforestation, to determine the types of forests regrowing. They modelled the spatial patterns of forest regrowth in the Amazon<\/a>, Central Africa, and Borneo by combining the satellite data with information on aboveground carbon from the European Space Agency.<\/p>\nThe results underscore the importance of sustainable forest management<\/h3>\n
Analysing the vulnerability of the carbon sink in recovering forests<\/h3>\n