Trees in the USA are capturing more carbon than before
When it comes to the climate conversation, forests often play second fiddle to solar panels and electric cars. But a landmark new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests we may be dramatically underestimating what’s happening right in America’s backyard.
According to researchers, U.S. forests have stored more carbon in the past two decades than at any time in the last century, a remarkable finding that reframes how we think about natural carbon sinks.
The study examined six key drivers of carbon sequestration: temperature, precipitation, atmospheric CO₂, land management, forest age, and total forested area. The team was surprised by exactly how much natural factors influenced the total amount of carbon stored — changes in temperature and precipitation alone, from 2005 to 2022, led to an increase of 66 million metric tons of carbon sequestration per year.
Human activity, as ever, was a mixed bag. Deforestation reduced stored forest carbon by roughly 31 million tons per year, while tree-planting and reforestation efforts added back about 23 million tons per year. The net human contribution is sobering, but not the headline.
The real star of the story is forest age. Structural changes in the peak growth stages of local trees helped lock in the most carbon — an impressive 89 million metric tons per year. As forests mature and trees enter their most vigorous growth phases, they become increasingly powerful carbon-capture machines.
The takeaway is genuinely encouraging. Nature, given the chance to recover and mature, is doing a tremendous amount of heavy lifting in the fight against climate change. That doesn’t mean we can ease up on reducing emissions — but it does mean that protecting and expanding America’s forests may be one of the highest-return climate investments available to us. Sometimes the best technology is a very old tree.
This topic was featured on Great News podcast episode 35.
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Source: Human Progress
