Natural climate solutions for the United States

Joseph E Fargione; Steven Bassett; Timothy Boucher; Scott D Bridgham; Richard T Conant; Susan C Cook-Patton; Peter W Ellis; Alessandra Falcucci; James W Fourqurean; Trisha Gopalakrishna; Huan Gu; Benjamin Henderson; Matthew D Hurteau; Kevin D Kroeger; Timm Kroeger; Tyler J Lark; Sara M Leavitt; Guy Lomax; Robert I McDonald; J Patrick Megonigal; Daniela A Miteva; Curtis J Richardson; Jonathan Sanderman; David Shoch; Seth A Spawn; Joseph W Veldman; Christopher A Williams; Peter B Woodbury; Chris Zganjar; Marci Baranski; Patricia Elias; Richard A Houghton; Emily Landis; Emily McGlynn; William H Schlesinger; Juha V Siikamaki; Ariana E Sutton-Grier; Bronson W Griscom

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aat1869

Natural climate solutions for the United States

Sci Adv. 2018 Nov 14;4(11):eaat1869. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aat1869. eCollection 2018 Nov.

Authors

Joseph E Fargione¹, Steven Bassett², Timothy Boucher³, Scott D Bridgham⁴, Richard T Conant⁵, Susan C Cook-Patton^{3

6}, Peter W Ellis³, Alessandra Falcucci⁷, James W Fourqurean⁸, Trisha Gopalakrishna³, Huan Gu⁹, Benjamin Henderson¹⁰, Matthew D Hurteau¹¹, Kevin D Kroeger¹², Timm Kroeger³, Tyler J Lark¹³, Sara M Leavitt³, Guy Lomax¹⁴, Robert I McDonald³, J Patrick Megonigal⁶, Daniela A Miteva¹⁵, Curtis J Richardson¹⁶, Jonathan Sanderman¹⁷, David Shoch¹⁸, Seth A Spawn¹³, Joseph W Veldman¹⁹, Christopher A Williams⁹, Peter B Woodbury²⁰, Chris Zganjar³, Marci Baranski²¹, Patricia Elias³, Richard A Houghton¹⁷, Emily Landis³, Emily McGlynn²², William H Schlesinger²³, Juha V Siikamaki²⁴, Ariana E Sutton-Grier^{25

26}, Bronson W Griscom³

Affiliations

¹ The Nature Conservancy, Minneapolis, MN 55415, USA.
² The Nature Conservancy, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA.
³ The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA 22203, USA.
⁴ Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
⁵ Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
⁶ Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD 21037, USA.
⁷ Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy.
⁸ Marine Sciences Program, Florida International University, North Miami, FL 33181, USA.
⁹ Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610, USA.
¹⁰ Trade and Agriculture Directorate, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris 75016, France.
¹¹ Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
¹² Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, United States Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
¹³ Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA.
¹⁴ The Nature Conservancy, Oxford OX1 1HU, UK.
¹⁵ Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
¹⁶ Duke University Wetland Center, Nicholas School of the Environment, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
¹⁷ Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, MA 02540, USA.
¹⁸ TerraCarbon LLC, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
²⁰ College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
²¹ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250, USA.
²² Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
²³ Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA.
²⁴ International Union for Conservation of Nature, Washington, DC 20009, USA.
²⁵ The Nature Conservancy, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
²⁶ Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA.

Abstract

Limiting climate warming to <2°C requires increased mitigation efforts, including land stewardship, whose potential in the United States is poorly understood. We quantified the potential of natural climate solutions (NCS)-21 conservation, restoration, and improved land management interventions on natural and agricultural lands-to increase carbon storage and avoid greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. We found a maximum potential of 1.2 (0.9 to 1.6) Pg CO₂e year^-1, the equivalent of 21% of current net annual emissions of the United States. At current carbon market prices (USD 10 per Mg CO₂e), 299 Tg CO₂e year^-1 could be achieved. NCS would also provide air and water filtration, flood control, soil health, wildlife habitat, and climate resilience benefits.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't