Forests may not absorb more CO₂ despite rising temperatures

An international study of more than 50,000 observations of conifers on four continents shows that global warming is extending the growing season. However, this does not necessarily translate into increased timber production or a greater capacity of forests to absorb CO₂.

Global warming is lengthening the growing season of forests, a phenomenon that was thought to reinforce their role as carbon sinks.

However, international research with the participation of the Zaidín Experimental Station (EEZ-CSIC) and the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE-CSIC) concludes that the growth speed of conifers influences wood production more than the length of the season and that drought associated with climate change can offset or even reverse this potential benefit of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption. Thus, the work, published in Science, questions one of the most widespread hypotheses about the role of forests as CO2 sinks in a climate change scenario.

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