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Latest Library Content tagged with "carbon storage"

Getting the whole job done: Safeguarding natural resources, storing carbon PDF

Protecting our natural resources from the impacts of climate change will help ensure our forests, wetlands, and other natural lands remain resilient in a warming world. Safeguarding natural resources through conservation, restoration, and careful management will create jobs and help maintain the ability of our forests and other natural areas to absorb and store hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide, a chief greenhouse gas. Investing in natural resource adaptation is a one-two-punch against climate change:

Wood Products and Carbon Storage: Can Increased Production Help Solve the Climate Crisis? PDF

This report draws on a variety of sources to illuminate the greenhouse gas impacts of wood products and wood biomass fuels throughout their life-cycles. While detailed analyses are rare, the picture is complete enough to show the variability of the processing path followed by different types of trees in various parts of the country. Taking the entire life-cycle of these products into account, it becomes clear that an increased use of wood fuels and lumber will have very little net effect on climate change. To the contrary, the impact is as likely to be negative as positive.

Measuring Forest Carbon: Strengths and Weaknesses of Available Tools PDF

As the U.S. moves toward registering and regulating emissions of greenhouse gases, we are hearing more about the potential for forest carbon sequestration to offset fossil fuel emissions. Whether at the national or project level, good decisions about forest offsets depend upon accurate estimates of the carbon stored in forests and the changes in those stores over time. This Brief examines four carbon measurement tools, and provides some general comparisons for broad regions. It also highlights limitations that users should keep in mind; data are particularly limited for very old forests and for carbon reserves in dead wood and underground.

Charcoal and Carbon Storage in Forest Soils of the Rocky Mountain West PDF

Charcoal produced during wildfire events represents an important form of long-term Carbon storage in forest ecosystems. Forest management practices, such as salvage logging or thinning without prescribed fire, may reduce soil charcoal content and, thus, long-term Carbon storage in mineral soils.   Conclusions  Charcoal represents an important component of the soil organic matter pool in temperate grasslands and forests. It contributes to the total water-holding capacity, ion exchange complex, and surface area of the soil environment.

Rocky Mountain West: The Interplay of Fire, Carbon Storage, Charcoal, and Global Warming PDF

Given the early onset of wildland fire this season, combined with the heightened awareness of carbon storage and its relationship to global warming, this fact sheet explores the interaction of fires and climate change.