{"id":296405,"date":"2025-06-09T00:12:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T00:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/09\/protect-these-places-or-face-climate-doom\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T00:12:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T00:12:07","slug":"protect-these-places-or-face-climate-doom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/09\/protect-these-places-or-face-climate-doom\/","title":{"rendered":"Protect these places \u2014 or face climate doom"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

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To stop climate catastrophe, there are certain places on Earth that we simply cannot afford to destroy, according to new research<\/a> by Conservation International
\n scientists.<\/p>\n

Compiling carbon data from forests, grasslands and wetlands, the scientists determined how much carbon is stored in ecosystems across the globe and measured how long it would take to get it back if it is lost \u2014 and what that loss would mean for
\n humanity.<\/p>\n

The result: A blueprint for where \u2014 and how \u2014 to focus efforts to protect Earth\u2019s living carbon reserves.<\/p>\n

\u2018A generation\u2019s worth of carbon\u2019<\/strong>
<\/h3>\n

The scientists identified pockets of \u201cirrecoverable carbon\u201d \u2014 vast stores of carbon that are potentially vulnerable to release from human activity and, if lost, could not be restored by 2050. (Why 2050? It\u2019s the year by which humans
\n need to reach net-zero emissions to avoid a climate catastrophe.)<\/p>\n

Irrecoverable carbon spans six of the seven continents, including vast stores in the Amazon, the Congo Basin, Indonesia, Northwestern North America, Southern Chile, Southeastern Australia and New Zealand. These ecosystems contain more than 260 billion
\n tons of irrecoverable carbon, most of which is stored in mangroves, peatlands, old-growth forests and marshes. This amount of carbon is equivalent to 26 years of fossil fuel emissions at current rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are talking about a generation\u2019s worth of carbon contained in these critical ecosystems,\u201d explained Allie Goldstein, a climate scientist at Conservation International and the paper\u2019s lead author. \u201cThe good news is that
\n we now know where this irrecoverable carbon can be found \u2014 and it is largely within our control to protect it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carbon is constantly flowing in and out of ecosystems, added Conservation International scientist Will Turner, also an author on the paper.<\/p>\n

But as humans destroy city-size swaths of forests at an increasing rate, the scale is tipping heavily toward \u201cout.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already know that fossil fuels release massive amounts of emissions and that we need to keep them in the ground,\u201d Turner said. \u201cWe now know that when particular ecosystems are destroyed or degraded, they release massive amounts of
\n carbon that we simply can\u2019t get back in time to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change. We have to make protecting these places a top priority of this decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defining \u2018irrecoverable\u2019<\/strong>
<\/h3>\n

In the paper, scientists analyzed the carbon stocks stored across the world\u2019s major ecosystems through three dimensions: whether humans can influence that stock of carbon, the amount of carbon likely to be released if the ecosystem was disturbed
\n or converted, and how quickly the stock could be recovered if lost.<\/p>\n

With these criteria, the researchers were able to pinpoint which ecosystems are most crucial to prioritize for climate action \u2014 and where humans can actually have an impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some carbon stocks in ecosystems such as tundra, where permafrost will release carbon as it thaws due to global warming itself,\u201d Turner said. \u201cUnfortunately, at this point there is little we can do directly in those places
\n to keep the carbon from releasing. But other carbon stocks that we studied are being released due to human activities such as clearing forests \u2014 which means that humans can also make a difference by protecting them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Driven by agriculture and logging, tropical deforestation rates have soared across the globe. In the Amazon, the world\u2019s largest rainforest, forest destruction has surged a staggering 85 percent since 2018. Mangroves continue to be destroyed, with
\n more than 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) lost from 2000 to 2012. Peatlands are suffering a similar fate, drained and cleared, mostly to make room for oil palm plantations.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve still got time<\/strong>
<\/h3>\n

According to Goldstein, however, there is still time to protect these critical ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are right in the sweet spot of where the carbon stocks in most of these ecosystems are still manageable,\u201d Goldstein said. \u201cOur land-use decisions still matter right now. If temperatures increase by more than 2 degrees Celsius, then
\n there will be more ecosystems that are going to shift into that unmanageable category.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although not every ecosystem that stores irrecoverable carbon is under threat at the moment, past does not always equal future when it comes to risk, Turner says.<\/p>\n

Take Borneo: A few decades ago, the island was filled with peatlands and forests teeming with wildlife, he explained. Now, Borneo has a staggeringly high rate of deforestation, with more than a quarter million hectares of old-growth forests and peat destroyed every year<\/a>, much of it converted to oil palm plantations.<\/p>\n

As agricultural production and development intensify across the globe, countries must act both reactively and proactively to protect these crucial ecosystems, Turner advised.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreventing deforestation only in places where it is happening right now is like having a health-care system made up only of emergency rooms. We need to be proactive about protecting these living carbon reserves while we still can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protect nature, protect carbon<\/strong>
<\/h3>\n

The bad news: If we lose a third of this irrecoverable carbon, that alone would put us over our carbon budget to stay within a 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature rise \u2014the limit that scientists say is necessary to prevent the
\n worst impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n

The good news: There are a number of activities that humans can do to protect it, says Bronson Griscom, who leads Conservation International\u2019s work on natural climate solutions and was also a co-author of the new study.<\/p>\n

To stop climate breakdown, he explained, we need to do two things: emit less carbon and remove excess carbon from the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cIrrecoverable carbon stocks are an essential piece of the natural climate solutions story,\u201d Griscom said.\u201cWe need to start designing the next generation of protected area networks that span across a number of these critical ecosystems
\n with high irrecoverable carbon stocks, and prioritize protection for the ones that are most at risk. These ecosystems are not only critical for our climate, they are also hotspots for other essential ecosystem services like flood control, water filtration
\n and biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next step: a \u2018treasure map\u2019<\/strong>
<\/h3>\n

Now that these scientists know which ecosystems hold the most irrecoverable carbon, they are determining where exactly they can be found.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy locating irrecoverable carbon stocks at a global scale, we can provide countries with a treasure map of the places we can least afford to lose and the places where we have to halt deforestation the fastest,\u201d explained Goldstein.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will help us actually plan irrecoverable carbon protection and where to allocate funding at the local, national and global scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

What sets this map apart: It will show how much irrecoverable carbon is in existing protected areas and under indigenous management, and where \u2014 as well as the pockets that are currently unprotected.<\/p>\n

Conservation International is also using this research to undertake an ambitious initiative to protect tens of millions of hectares of ecosystems high in irrecoverable carbon.<\/p>\n

But to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change, protecting irrecoverable carbon must be a priority across industries and stakeholders \u2014 from the private sector to governments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have growing evidence that the final battle ground whether we fail or succeed in delivering the Paris Climate Agreement of holding the 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming line, is not only whether we are able to get off fossil fuels, it is also
\n whether we are able to safeguard the carbon sinks in nature,\u201d said Johan Rockstr\u00f6m, Conservation International\u2019s chief scientist. \u201cHere, we provide the first global assessment of the ecosystems that hold our future in their
\n hands.\u201d<\/p>\n