This article assesses trends in the carbon sink using 244 structurally intact African tropical forests spanning 11 countries, compare them with 321 published plots from Amazonia and investigate the underlying drivers of the trends. Given that the global terrestrial carbon sink is increasing in size, independent observations indicating greater recent carbon uptake into the Northern Hemisphere landmass reinforce our conclusion that the intact tropical forest carbon sink has already peaked. This saturation and ongoing decline of the tropical forest carbon sink has consequences for policies intended to stabilize Earth’s climate.
Asynchronous Carbon Sink Saturation in African and Amazonian Tropical Forests
Organization
Hubau, W., Lewis, S.L., Phillips, O.L. et al.
Language
English
Year
2020
File type
Online article
Keywords English
Amazon, conservation, lands.
Palabras clave Español
Amazonía, conservación, tierras.
Palavras-chave Português
Amazônia, conservação, terras.
These publications are shared by our members and are meant for knowledge exchange. The content and findings of the publications do not reflect the views of the World Bank Group, the ASL and its partners, and the sole responsibility for these publications lies with the authors.
Blog » Asynchronous Carbon Sink Saturation in African and Amazonian Tropical Forests
Asynchronous Carbon Sink Saturation in African and Amazonian Tropical Forests
This article assesses trends in the carbon sink using 244 structurally intact African tropical forests spanning 11 countries, compare them with 321 published plots from Amazonia and investigate the underlying drivers of the trends. Given that the global terrestrial carbon sink is increasing in size, independent observations indicating greater recent carbon uptake into the Northern Hemisphere landmass reinforce our conclusion that the intact tropical forest carbon sink has already peaked. This saturation and ongoing decline of the tropical forest carbon sink has consequences for policies intended to stabilize Earth’s climate.
Read the full article
These publications are shared by our members and are meant for knowledge exchange. The content and findings of the publications do not reflect the views of the World Bank Group, the ASL and its partners, and the sole responsibility for these publications lies with the authors.