Net Zero Evolution’s Post

Forests are a powerful climate solution.🌲🌎 Recent research shows how forest management and restoration can significantly boost carbon capture and enhance the resilience of ecosystems. #ForestCarbon #ClimateWeek #ClimateAction Read more here: https://heyor.ca/PNqFSa

Recent research by Matthew W. Jones, Sander Veraverbeke, and John T. Abatzoglou highlights a troubling rise in forest fire emissions linked to climate change, particularly in extratropical regions. Their study reveals that emissions in certain boreal forests have nearly tripled from 2001 to 2023, primarily due to more fire-favorable weather and increased vegetation productivity. This shift underscores how climate factors are becoming more dominant in fire dynamics, even as emissions from tropical forests decline. As we face this growing vulnerability, it's crucial to rethink forest management and policy to better protect these vital ecosystems and their carbon storage capacities. Addressing the root causes of climate change is essential for securing resilient forests for the future. #ClimateChange #WildfireManagement #Sustainability

"The steep trend toward greater extratropical forest fire emissions is a warning of the growing vulnerability of forest C stocks to climate change. This poses a major challenge for global targets to tackle climate change, with fire reducing the capacity of forests to act as C sinks." "In regions with substantial fire suppression history, shifting focus to managed, ecologically beneficial fires may prevent C sink-to-source conversion." "The present norm of counting forest fire emissions fluxes as natural, on both managed and unmanaged land, is increasingly at odds with the observed growth in fire emission fluxes tied to anthropogenic climate change." "highlight the potential for major overestimation of C storage (and therefore C credits) by reafforestation schemes in extratropical forests if the growing risk of fire disturbance is not appropriately factored into accreditation protocols." https://lnkd.in/dv22cYFs

Great Salt Lake Shrinking Amid Greenhouse Gas Emissions 💡 The Great Salt Lake is rapidly shrinking, largely due to increased greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. 💡 The shrinking lake has significant environmental and ecological consequences for the surrounding area. 💡 This situation highlights the urgent need for policies to address greenhouse gas emissions and environmental preservation. #climate #GHGs #climatechange #netzero #energytransition #greenhousegas

WisBiz Green Blog – 1/4/25 Great Lakes Not Immune To Climate Change By Gregg Hoffmann The Great Lakes are indeed great presences to anybody who lives in the Midwest. Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario comprise one of the great natural features of the region, continent and of the Earth. Although Lake Baikal in Russia has a larger volume of water, the combined area of the Great Lakes—some 94,250 square miles (244,106 square kilometers)—represents the largest surface of fresh water in the world. But, the Great Lakes are not immune to the effects of climate change. Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the United States and a critical natural resource, experienced its lowest water levels in a decade in 2024. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the lake's level at Grand Marais in Minnesota was 601.5 feet at the start of November, more than half a foot lower than at the same time in 2023. Newsweek reported in December 2024 these shifts highlight significant hydrological challenges for Lake Superior, which holds 10 percent of the world's fresh water. Changes in its water levels can have profound consequences. Lower levels can reduce the lake's shipping capacity, forcing vessels to carry lighter loads, which increases costs. Altered water levels and temperatures can also disrupt ecosystems, harming native species while benefiting invasive ones like zebra mussels. Superior is not the only Great Lake feeling the impacts. The EPA reported climate change is amplifying the risk of existing threats (such as invasive species, land use change, and pollution). It brings new challenges to the Great Lakes region. The primary impacts of climate change on the Great Lakes include changes to the duration and extent of winter ice cover, lake water levels, and important annual cycles that affect ecosystems. Rising temperatures are also affecting the timing of an event called destratification, or turnover, which may have implications for fishing and lake ecosystems. Fish and other lake animals need oxygen to survive, which lakes primarily receive from air at the surface. Species in deeper parts of the lake depend on seasonal boosts of oxygen-rich water through lake turnover, which mixes oxygen through the water column, according to the EPA. Scientists and others are coming to the aid of the great lakes. The Great Lakes Observing System, a Michigan nonprofit, is working to fully map the bottom of the Great Lakes. The lakes span nearly the size of the state of Oregon. Despite humans’ long history of using the lakes for water, transportation and sport, scientists say little is known about what lies deep below the surface. The mapping initiative, which has been dubbed Lakebed 2030, supports ongoing efforts. For the remainder of this story, and links to posts about climate change and the environment, go to WisBiz Green, Nature's Images in Pixels and Prose and the New Last Call from Nature Facebook pages.

Join us in exploring the critical role of reforestation in the Western United States and its impact on climate change 🌲🔥. Read more to understand the transformative power of reforestation and how you can contribute to a sustainable future 🌱✨. #reforestation #ClimateAction #sustainability #opendata #seedlings #wildfirerestoration https://lnkd.in/ewx5UjZa

Nature4Climate's Naturebase tool is designed to inform decision-making on climate and nature everywhere on the planet. Not only is it extensive, but it is also free to use. Key features include: 🌳 Climate benefit estimates for 20+ natural climate solutions pathways 🌍 Interactive maps and open-access datasets 📑 Enabling policies and case studies for actionable insights Read more 👇 #naturebasedsolutions #invest #insights

The Great Salt Lake is shrinking at an alarming rate, with serious consequences for the environment and local communities. The decline is driven by climate change and increased water consumption, highlighting the urgent need to address greenhouse gas emissions and implement sustainable water management practices. Preserving this vital ecosystem is crucial for maintaining biodiversity, supporting local economies, and mitigating climate impacts. #climate #climateaction #netzero #impact

#NowReading ☕ : Forest Restoration: Carbon, Water and So Much More #Forests and trees do so much more than simply capturing carbon. While #carbonstorage provides a vital service, a focus on the crucial role of carbon alone neglects the many other vital contributions forests make. For example, their role in sustaining #biodiversity, contributing to local people, and maintaining the #watercycle, require greater emphasis. In their essay "Restoring deforested drylands for a wetter future – harnessing trees for credits, climate and water", SUPERB’s Koen Kramer (Land Life Company) and Douglas Sheil (Wageningen University & Research) emphasize the importance of considering water alongside carbon when planning dryland restoration efforts. With the right tree species in the right locations, we can improve both carbon capture and the water cycle. The authors argue that in case of drylands, changes in atmospheric water should be recognised as human-induced factor for enhanced global warming. Their argument is that vast areas of dryland forests have been cleared over the last 2 centuries, which has resulted in desiccation, i.e. reduced condensation and thus less cooling of the atmosphere. In other words, human-induced deforestation enhanced the greenhouse effect of water vapor in the atmosphere and should therefore be recognised as direct effect determining climate change. If recognized, this effect can be expressed in CO₂ equivalents and existing markets can be used to fund restoration of #deforesteddrylands. This is, as the experts admit, a bold idea. The effects of trees and forests on local hydrology, albedo, and atmospheric moisture content is much debated in the scientific community as they depend on local orographic conditions, distance to sea, tree cover and species composition, and so on. Nevertheless, at a larger scale, desiccation by deforestation and rewetting by reforestation is increasingly recognized. With the right tree species in the right locations, we can improve both #carboncapture and the water cycle, emphasize Koen and Douglas. This could form the base to improve the land and lives of those living there. Water matters because everything else depends on it. https://lnkd.in/eCFDhi_K