New Research Shows Global Climate Benefits Of Protecting Nature, but It’s Not a Silver Bullet
By Bob Berwyn
All major recent climate reports say nature plays a crucial role in the effort to stop global warming, and many countries are relying on forests and other ecosystems to help fulfill their commitments under the Paris Agreement. Research published Thursday in the journal Nature Communications quantifies the climate benefits of protecting natural areas—especially carbon-storing forests—at a global scale.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.