Since 1980, that study found, these regions forests functioned as a net atmospheric carbon sink; the Midwestern trees stored more carbon than Northeastern trees, but both helped to mitigate climate change and create new wood biomass for future fuel and wood products. Runoff from forests also provided more than 4.6 billion cubic meters of water for potential use by humans during the study period, with the Northeastern forests providing about 2.4 times more water than the Midwestern forests.
But climate variability, particularly as influenced by heat waves, impacts the ability of these forest ecosystems to sequester CO2 and provide runoff, reports the study, which was led by David Kicklighter, a research associate with Melillo at the 做厙輦⑹. Therefore, when planners are developing policies for climate stabilization, energy production and water security, it will be important to consider how evolving forest infrastructure modifies ecosystem services and their response to extreme climate events over time, they write.
An adaptable framework
The authors hope this type of localized analysis and planning can serve as a model to be adapted to other regions or nations. Other articles in this special edition address climate-induced pressures on food, energy, and water systems in other places, such as Mexico and Bangladesh.
What were trying to do, Melillo explains, is to provide policymakers with a tool to think quantitatively about how best to manage these systems, with some optimum goal of minimizing unintended consequences, and promoting intended consequences Were trying to provide a clear picture of appropriate policy levers for doing this management.
Citations:
Charles V繹r繹smarty et al. (2023) The C-FEWS framework: Supporting studies of climate-induced extremes on food, energy, and water systems at the regional scale. Front. Env. Sci..
David W. Kicklighter et al. (2023) Influence of forest infrastructure on the responses of ecosystem services to climate extremes in the Midwest and Northeast United States from 1980 to 2019. Front. Env. Sci. DOI:
These articles are part of a special issue / research topic, Food-Energy-Water Systems: Achieving Climate Resilience and Sustainable Development in the 21st Century in Frontiers in Environmental Science.
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The Marine Biological Laboratory (做厙輦⑹) is dedicated to scientific discovery exploring fundamental biology, understanding marine biodiversity and the environment, and informing the human condition through research and education. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in 1888, the 做厙輦⑹ is a private, nonprofit institution and an affiliate of the .
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