United States: The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has predicted that the nation’s forests will release increasingly more carbon than they store by 2070.
Experts have said that within the next 50 years, forests across the US, except for those in Alaska, will stop absorbing 150 million metric tonnes of carbon annually. This carbon amount is about the same as emissions from approximately 40 coal power plants.
The USDA report warns that “the ability of forests to provide the goods and services that society depends upon will be challenged over the next 50 years.”
The US Forest Service has announced a pathway to protecting old-growth trees from being cut down in federally managed forests this April. Currently, the government permits the logging of these trees. This applies mainly to trees on public land, but it’s important to note that the majority of forests in the US are privately owned.
“There are an estimated 9.6 million family forest ownerships across the country, and they control more forest land than any other ownership category (39 percent, excluding interior Alaska), but most do not have a written forest management plan and have not received forest management advice,” as per the report.
In June 2023, the US Forest Service announced its plans to allow carbon waste from industry to be dumped in national forests.
If the US wants to reach its current goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, it must remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as it emits, as per the statement.
RELATED | Amazon nations forge new alliance to prevent deforestation
