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The carbon costs of global wood harvests

Environmental Studies and Forestry

The carbon costs of global wood harvests

L. Peng, T. D. Searchinger, et al.

This study, led by Liqing Peng and Timothy D. Searchinger, reveals that wood harvests significantly diminish carbon storage in ecosystems and emphasizes the often overlooked climate change mitigation potential of reducing these harvests, estimating annualized carbon costs comparable to agricultural expansion.

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Playback language: English
Abstract
Wood harvest significantly reduces carbon storage in vegetation and soils. Existing carbon accounting methods often underestimate the carbon costs of wood harvests by inappropriately offsetting carbon losses from harvests with carbon sequestration from unrelated forest growth. This study uses a new model with time discounting to estimate the present and future carbon costs of global wood harvests. Results indicate substantial annualized carbon costs (3.5–4.2 Gt CO₂e yr⁻¹), comparable to emissions from agricultural expansion, highlighting the underappreciated climate change mitigation potential of reducing wood harvests.
Publisher
Nature
Published On
Jul 05, 2023
Authors
Liqing Peng, Timothy D. Searchinger, Jessica Zionts, Richard Waite
Tags
carbon storage
wood harvest
climate change
carbon costs
sequestration
forest growth
mitigation
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