Version 1
: Received: 27 October 2023 / Approved: 30 October 2023 / Online: 30 October 2023 (09:46:56 CET)
How to cite:
Wedderburn-Bisshop, G. Consistent Greenhouse Accounting Identifies Forests and Land Use as Crucial Determinants of Climate. Preprints2023, 2023101863. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.1863.v1
Wedderburn-Bisshop, G. Consistent Greenhouse Accounting Identifies Forests and Land Use as Crucial Determinants of Climate. Preprints 2023, 2023101863. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.1863.v1
Wedderburn-Bisshop, G. Consistent Greenhouse Accounting Identifies Forests and Land Use as Crucial Determinants of Climate. Preprints2023, 2023101863. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.1863.v1
APA Style
Wedderburn-Bisshop, G. (2023). Consistent Greenhouse Accounting Identifies Forests and Land Use as Crucial Determinants of Climate. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.1863.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Wedderburn-Bisshop, G. 2023 "Consistent Greenhouse Accounting Identifies Forests and Land Use as Crucial Determinants of Climate" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202310.1863.v1
Abstract
Conventional greenhouse accounting inadequately describes land use/land use change and forestry (LULUCF) emissions, cooling emissions, and sequestration potential. As we enter the age of drawdown, we propose an accounting framework that offers greater consistency and transparency. By unfolding net accounting of LULUCF CO2 emissions; aggregating biosphere sinks; accounting for all emissions (heating and cooling); com-paring sectors with emissions-based Effective Radiative Forcing (ERF) rather than global warming potential; and including drawdown potential of land use carbon opportunity cost (COC), this reveals fresh insight into sector contributions and mitigation potential. Consistent gross emissions reporting of LULUCF CO2 emissions finds these to be at least 3.5 times greater than conventionally understood. Consolidating natural sequestration on ‘managed’ and ‘intact’ land, we find that since 1750 vegetation and the oceans have removed from the atmosphere an amount equivalent to 2.4 times cumulative fossil fuel CO2 emissions, demonstrating the immense drawdown potential of the biosphere. This accounting places deforestation (responsible for 77% of LULUCF emissions) as the main source of historic CO2 emissions, and attributes drawdown potential COC to sectors. The most extensive land use sector, animal agriculture, was found to have contributed the greatest warming (52% of net ERF since 1750) and to offer the greatest drawdown potential COC.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
