WHAT ARE NATURAL CLIMATE SOLUTIONS? (3:01) In this video, it's the future, and we look back on how we saved the world with nature. In the 2020s, we learned that nature could pull 11 billion metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere. This was a full third of the emission reductions we needed! So how did nature do all this?
Recent research points to the important role natural climate solutions— the conservation, restoration, and management of forests, grasslands, and wetlands—can play in addressing climate change. Properly managed, these solutions have the capacity to sequester nearly 37% of emissions by 2030 and can be applied to reverse unsustainable land-use emissions which currently account for 25% of GHG emissions. These lands could become major carbon sinks.
“The benefit of natural climate solutions is that they provide large benefits in terms of climate change mitigation—reducing emissions—and also in terms of climate change adaptation, because of the ecosystem services they provide.” says Manishka De Mel, senior staff associate at Columbia University’s Center for Climate Systems Research.
Let’s explore the role forests, wetlands, and grasslands can play in naturally sequestering carbon.
Because tropical regions like the Amazon have the highest rates of forest loss, they have the most to gain from natural climate solutions. Preventing deforestation, however, requires establishing incentives and regulations to discourage the main reasons for deforestation—cattle ranching and palm oil plantations—as well as providing assistance for rural and Indigenous communities so that they can find alternative livelihoods.news.climate.columbia.edu/... … globally, it’s estimated that there are 4.4 billion acres of land, not being used for agricultural or urban development, that could be reforested with the potential to sequester 370 to750 billion tons of CO2. This is equivalent to 17 to 33 percent of manmade emissions since the Industrial Revolution. -snip- (Research suggests that “one trillion more trees could push potential tipping points in the climate system years into the future, buying humanity more time.”) news.climate.columbia.edu/...
… globally, it’s estimated that there are 4.4 billion acres of land, not being used for agricultural or urban development, that could be reforested with the potential to sequester 370 to750 billion tons of CO2. This is equivalent to 17 to 33 percent of manmade emissions since the Industrial Revolution.
-snip-
(Research suggests that “one trillion more trees could push potential tipping points in the climate system years into the future, buying humanity more time.”) news.climate.columbia.edu/...
Older trees store more carbon so deforestation projects and policies are more beneficial than restoring degraded forests or replanting.
The carbon stored by seagrass meadows, mangroves, and tidal salt marshes covers between 86 and 731 million acres. The so-called “blue carbon” ecosystems are capable of storing carbon for thousands of years and store nearly 50% of carbon found in ocean sediment.
Some mangrove forests can shelter up to four times as much carbon per unit area as land-based forests. -snip- Mangroves in Cambodia Photo Credit Leo Petrosyan Around the world, a third of coastal wetlands have been destroyed over recent decades. They are converted for agriculture, aquaculture or drained for coastal development, resulting in the release of 165 to 1124 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere yearly, and potentially changing these carbon sinks into carbon emitters. In the U.S., 80,000 acres of wetlands are lost each year to erosion, sea level rise, and development. Today, there are over 14.1 million acres of degraded coastal wetlands in the U.S. that could be restored. news.climate.columbia.edu/… -snip- Restoring coastal wetlands entails preventing their destruction, reducing pollution, establishing protected areas, controlling agricultural and stormwater runoff, reestablishing the natural flow of water, and replanting vegetation. Healthy wetlands nurture biodiversity, filter water, and protect against flooding and storm surge—one acre of wetlands can store up to 1.5 million gallons of floodwater. After Hurricane Sandy hit, scientists at Lloyds of London determined that coastal wetlands had reduced storm surge and waves, preventing about $625 million in property damage.
Some mangrove forests can shelter up to four times as much carbon per unit area as land-based forests.
Around the world, a third of coastal wetlands have been destroyed over recent decades. They are converted for agriculture, aquaculture or drained for coastal development, resulting in the release of 165 to 1124 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere yearly, and potentially changing these carbon sinks into carbon emitters. In the U.S., 80,000 acres of wetlands are lost each year to erosion, sea level rise, and development. Today, there are over 14.1 million acres of degraded coastal wetlands in the U.S. that could be restored. news.climate.columbia.edu/…
Restoring coastal wetlands entails preventing their destruction, reducing pollution, establishing protected areas, controlling agricultural and stormwater runoff, reestablishing the natural flow of water, and replanting vegetation. Healthy wetlands nurture biodiversity, filter water, and protect against flooding and storm surge—one acre of wetlands can store up to 1.5 million gallons of floodwater. After Hurricane Sandy hit, scientists at Lloyds of London determined that coastal wetlands had reduced storm surge and waves, preventing about $625 million in property damage.
Grasslands can sequester nearly 1/3 of terrestrial carbon, often for longer periods of time than forests. On the global scale, some 4.2 million acres of both grass and shrublands are used for agriculture. Once repurposed, they are the most vulnerable to carbon loss of all ecosystems.
Soil stores three times as much carbon as is in the atmosphere, and almost four times the amount in all living matter, but many farmed soils have lost up to 70 percent of the organic carbon they once held. When soil is left bare between harvests, the carbon it has stored is released into the atmosphere. -snip- Regenerative agricultural practices improve the overall health of the land by rebuilding the organic matter and biodiversity in soil, which enhances its ability to absorb and hold more carbon as well as water. These practices include rotating crops, planting cover crops or double crops so as not to leave fields fallow, applying compost or crop residue to fields, increasing plant diversity, practicing minimal or no-till farming, planting perennial crops, and managing nutrients by applying only as much fertilizer as plants can use. news.climate.columbia.edu/...
Soil stores three times as much carbon as is in the atmosphere, and almost four times the amount in all living matter, but many farmed soils have lost up to 70 percent of the organic carbon they once held. When soil is left bare between harvests, the carbon it has stored is released into the atmosphere.
Regenerative agricultural practices improve the overall health of the land by rebuilding the organic matter and biodiversity in soil, which enhances its ability to absorb and hold more carbon as well as water. These practices include rotating crops, planting cover crops or double crops so as not to leave fields fallow, applying compost or crop residue to fields, increasing plant diversity, practicing minimal or no-till farming, planting perennial crops, and managing nutrients by applying only as much fertilizer as plants can use. news.climate.columbia.edu/...
Harborview Farm in Maryland
Farmer Trey Hill produces wheat, corn, and soybeans employing regenerative agriculture. He plants cover crops— rye, turnips, and clover—in the off season so that fields remain covered all year round. When his corn is planted in spring, he sprays the cover crops to kill them. As they decompose, they store CO2 and provide nutrients to the soil microbes, improving soil health. Hill also uses no-till cultivation to prevent stored carbon from escaping, minimal fertilizer, and rotational grazing for his livestock. His yields are comparable to what they would have been with traditional farming, but the soil is healthier and the crops are more resistant to pests and extreme weather. Hill also earns money through selling carbon credits for the extra carbon he stores through Nori, a private carbon marketplace that pays farmers for their carbon removal. Nori then sells these carbon removal tokens based on Hill’s carbon storage to others to offset their carbon footprints. Each year, Hill makes $15 per 1.1 ton of CO2 sequestered per acre; over the past 5 years, he has earned $210,000 for sequestering over 15,430 tons of carbon. news.climate.columbia.edu/...
Villagers in Bwabwa in northern Malawi share seeds, tips on cultivation, and the work of harvesting and carrying the produce home. Credit: Thoko Chikondi This is a Recipe Day in Bwabwa, a village of around 800 people in northern Malawi. These festivals are sociological experiments to reduce domestic inequality and are part of a multifaceted approach to ending hunger called agroecology. Academics describe it as a science, a practice and a social movement. Agroecology applies ecology and social science to the creation and management of sustainable food systems and involves 10 or more interconnected principles, ranging from the maintenance of soil health and biodiversity to the increase of gender and intergenerational equity. More than eight million farmer groups around the world are experimenting with it and finding that compared with conventional agriculture, agroecology is able to sequester more carbon in the soil, use water more frugally, reduce dependence on external inputs by recycling nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, and promote, rather than ravage, biodiversity in the soil and on farms. And on every continent, research shows that farmers who adopt agroecology have greater food security, higher incomes, better health and lower levels of indebtedness.
This is a Recipe Day in Bwabwa, a village of around 800 people in northern Malawi. These festivals are sociological experiments to reduce domestic inequality and are part of a multifaceted approach to ending hunger called agroecology. Academics describe it as a science, a practice and a social movement. Agroecology applies ecology and social science to the creation and management of sustainable food systems and involves 10 or more interconnected principles, ranging from the maintenance of soil health and biodiversity to the increase of gender and intergenerational equity. More than eight million farmer groups around the world are experimenting with it and finding that compared with conventional agriculture, agroecology is able to sequester more carbon in the soil, use water more frugally, reduce dependence on external inputs by recycling nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, and promote, rather than ravage, biodiversity in the soil and on farms. And on every continent, research shows that farmers who adopt agroecology have greater food security, higher incomes, better health and lower levels of indebtedness.
The writers in Climate Brief work to keep the Daily Kos community informed and engaged with breaking news about the climate crisis around the world while providing inspiring stories of environmental heroes, opportunities for direct engagement, and perspectives on the intersection of climate activism with spirituality, politics, and the arts.
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