UCI study: Higher heat will limit ecosystem?s role in removing atmospheric CO2

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ? IRVINE

Research News

Irvine, Calif., July 22, 2021 ? To meet an ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2045, California?s policymakers are relying in part on forests and shrublands to remove CO₂from the atmosphere, but researchers at the University of California, Irvine warn that future climate change may limit the ecosystem?s ability to perform this service.

In a paper published today in the American Geophysical Union journalAGU Advances, the UCI Earth system scientists stressed that rising temperatures and uncertain precipitation will cause a decrease in California?s natural carbon storage capacity of as much…