Accounting for albedo change to identify climate-positive tree cover restoration

Autor: Natalia Hasler, Christopher A. Williams, Vanessa Carrasco Denney, Peter W. Ellis, Surendra Shrestha, Drew E. Terasaki Hart, Nicholas H. Wolff, Samantha Yeo, Thomas W. Crowther, Leland K. Werden, Susan C. Cook-Patton
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature Communications, Vol 15, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2041-1723
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46577-1
Popis: Abstract Restoring tree cover changes albedo, which is the fraction of sunlight reflected from the Earth’s surface. In most locations, these changes in albedo offset or even negate the carbon removal benefits with the latter leading to global warming. Previous efforts to quantify the global climate mitigation benefit of restoring tree cover have not accounted robustly for albedo given a lack of spatially explicit data. Here we produce maps that show that carbon-only estimates may be up to 81% too high. While dryland and boreal settings have especially severe albedo offsets, it is possible to find places that provide net-positive climate mitigation benefits in all biomes. We further find that on-the-ground projects are concentrated in these more climate-positive locations, but that the majority still face at least a 20% albedo offset. Thus, strategically deploying restoration of tree cover for maximum climate benefit requires accounting for albedo change and we provide the tools to do so.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals