Global warming erodes our best climate change ally

During photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide, and store it above and below ground – locking it away until they die and decay.

This long-term carbon sequestration makes forests one of our best defenses against climate change. But what will happen as temperatures rise?

Conventional wisdom says as soils warm and forests become more productive, the increase in leaves, sticks, and other organic materials that fall to the ground will add even more carbon to the soil.

Read the Yale Climate Connections story - “Soils Affected by Global Warming.”