Search

Tropical secondary forests sequester carbon up to 20 times faster than old-growth forests. This rate does not capture spatial regrowth patterns due to environmental and disturbance drivers. Here we quantify the influence of such drivers on the rate and spatial patterns of regrowth in the Brazilian Amazon using satellite data. Carbon sequestration rates of young secondary forests (<20 years) in the west are ~60% higher (3.0 ± 1.0 Mg C ha -1  yr -1 ) compared to those in the east (1.3 ± 0.3 Mg C ha -1  yr -1 ). Disturbances reduce regrowth rates by 8-55%. The 2017 secondary forest carbon stock, of 294 Tg C, could be 8% higher by avoiding fires and repeated deforestation. Maintaining the 2017 secondary forest area has the potential to accumulate ~19.0 Tg C yr -1 until 2030, contributing ~5.5% to Brazil's 2030 net emissions reduction target. Implementing legal mechanisms to protect and expand secondary forests whilst supporting old-growth conservation is, therefore, key to realising their potential as a nature-based climate solution.

China's commitment to attaining carbon neutrality by 2060 has galvanized research into carbon sequestration, a critical approach for mitigating climate change. Despite the rapid urbanization observed since the turn of the millennium, a comprehensive analysis of how urbanization influences urban carbon storage throughout China remains elusive. Our investigation delves into the nuanced effects of urbanization on carbon storage, dissecting both the direct and indirect influences by considering urban-suburban gradients and varying degrees of urban intensity. We particularly scrutinize the roles of climatic and anthropogenic factors in mediating the indirect effects of urbanization on carbon storage. Our findings reveal that urbanization in China has precipitated a direct reduction in carbon storage by approximately 13.89 Tg of carbon (Tg C). Remarkably, urban sprawl has led to a diminution of vegetation carbon storage by 8.65 Tg C and a decrease in soil carbon storage by 5.24 Tg C, the latter resulting from the sequestration of impervious surfaces and the elimination of organic matter inputs following vegetation removal. Meanwhile, carbon storage in urban greenspaces has exhibited an increase of 6.90 Tg C and offsetting 49.70% of the carbon loss induced by direct urbanization effects. However, the indirect effects of urbanization predominantly diminish carbon storage in urban greenspaces by an average of 5.40%. The degree of urban vegetation management emerges as a pivotal factor influencing the indirect effects of urbanization on carbon storage. To bolster urban carbon storage, curbing urban sprawl and augmenting urban green spaces are imperative strategies. Insights from this study are instrumental in steering sustainable urban planning and advancing towards the goal of carbon neutrality., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Mitigating climate change by sequestering carbon in agricultural soils through humus formation is a crucial component of sustainable agriculture. Humus programs that are designed to incentivize farmers to build more humus are still recent innovations, so current knowledge about farmers' motivation to participate is limited. This study examines the adoption of non-governmental humus programs to promote carbon sequestration by analyzing farmers' willingness to participate in humus programs and influential factors. We specifically investigate behavioral factors underlying farmers' adoption of humus programs using the Theory of Planned Behavior. To this end, we collected data using an online survey with 190 German farmers and applied partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results show that (i) perceived economic benefits, (ii) the actions of fellow farmers, and (iii) farmers' sense of responsibility with regard to climate change have a statistically significant influence on farmers' intention to participate in a humus program. In contrast, the perceived ecological benefits, political pressure, the possibility of establishing humus-building measures, and prior knowledge of humus programs have no statistically significant influence. Our findings suggest that farmers' decision to participate in humus programs is strongly influenced by the financial benefits, but the actions and thoughts of other farmers, as well as their own moral claims regarding climate change, also play a crucial role. We found that farmers lack knowledge about the registration and general functioning of humus programs, which can currently be one of the biggest barriers to participation in such initiatives., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Seagrass meadows are globally recognized as critical natural carbon sinks, commonly known as 'blue carbon'. However, seagrass decline attributed to escalating human activities and climate change, significantly influences their carbon sequestration capacity. A key aspect in comprehending the impact of seagrass decline on carbon sequestration is understanding how degradation affects the stored blue carbon, primarily consisting of sediment organic carbon (SOC). While it is widely acknowledged that seagrass decline affects the input of organic carbon, little is known about its impact on SOC pool stability. To address this knowledge, we examined variations in total SOC and recalcitrant SOC (RSOC) at a depth of 15 cm in nine seagrass meadows located on the coast of Southern China. Our findings revealed that the ratio of RSOC to SOC (RSOC/SOC) ranged from 27 % to 91 % in the seagrass meadows, and the RSOC/SOC increased slightly with depth. Comparing different seagrass species, we observed that SOC and RSOC stocks were 1.94 and 3.19-fold higher under Halophila beccarii and Halophila ovalis meadows compared to Thalassia hemprichii and Enhalus acoroides meadows. Redundancy and correlation analyses indicated that SOC and RSOC content and stock, as well as the RSOC/SOC ratio, decreased with declining seagrass shoot density, biomass, and coverage. This implies that the loss of seagrass, caused by human activities and climate change, results in a reduction in carbon sequestration stability. Further, the RSOC decreased by 15 %, 29 %, and 40 % under unvegetated areas compared to adjacent Halophila spp., T. hemprichii and E. acoroides meadows, respectively. Given the anticipated acceleration of seagrass decline due to climate change and increasing coastal development, our study provides timely information for developing coastal carbon protection strategies. These strategies should focus on preserving seagrass and restoring damaged seagrass meadows, to maximize their carbon sequestration capacity., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Accurate estimation of carbon cycle is a challenging task owing to the complexity and heterogeneity of ecosystems. Carbon Use Efficiency (CUE) is a metric to define the ability of vegetation to sequester carbon from the atmosphere. It is key to understand the carbon sink and source pathways of ecosystems. Here, we quantify CUE using remote sensing measurements to examine its variability, drivers and underlying mechanisms in India for the period 2000-2019, by applying the principal component analyses (PCA), multiple linear regression (MLR) and causal discovery. Our analysis shows that the forests in the hilly regions (HR) and northeast (NE), and croplands in the western areas of South India (SI) exhibit high (>0.6) CUE. The northwest (NW), Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) and some areas in Central India (CI) show low (<0.3) CUE. In general, the water availability as soil moisture (SM) and precipitation (P) promote higher CUE, but higher temperature (T) and air organic carbon content (AOCC) reduce CUE. It is found that SM has the strongest relative influence (33%) on CUE, followed by P. Also, SM has a direct causal link with all drivers and CUE; reiterating its importance in driving vegetation carbon dynamics (VCD) for the cropland dominated India. The long-term analysis reveals that the low CUE regions in NW (moisture induced greening) and IGP (irrigation induced agricultural boom) have an increasing trend in productivity (greening). However, the high CUE regions in NE (deforestation and extreme events) and SI (warming induced moisture stress) exhibit a decreasing trend in productivity (browning), which is a great concern. Our study, therefore, provides new insights on the rate of carbon allocation and the need of proper planning for maintaining balance in the terrestrial carbon cycle. This is particularly important in the context of drafting policy decisions for the mitigation of climate change, food security and sustainability., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Plant temperature acclimation is closely related to maintaining a positive carbon gain under future climate change. However, no systematic summary of the field has been conducted. Based on this, we analyzed data on plant temperature acclimation from the Web of Science Core Collection database using bibliometric software R, RStudio and VOSviewer. Our study demonstrated that a stabilized upward trajectory was noted in publications (298 papers) from 1986 to 2011, followed by a swift growth (373 papers) from 2012 to 2022. The most impactful journals were Plant Cell and Environment, boasting the greatest count of worldwide citations and articles, the highest H-index and G-index, followed by Global Change Biology and New Phytologist, and Frontiers in Plant Science which had the highest M-index. The USA and China were identified as the most influential countries, while Atkin was the most influential author, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences was the most influential research institution. The most cited articles were published in the Annual Review of Plant Biology in 1999. “Cold acclimation” was the most prominent keyword. Future plant temperature acclimation research is expected to focus on thermal acclimation and photosynthesis, which have important significance for future agricultural production, forestry carbon sequestration, and global food security. In general, this study provides a systematic insight of the advancement, trend, and future of plant temperature acclimation research, enhancing the comprehension of how plants will deal with forthcoming climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the efforts to combat climate change and the biodiversity crisis, an interest in nature-based solutions (NbS) has been growing. Although there have been diverse discussions on NbS, it is still insufficient to find a quantitative evaluation of the global research trends in which field and to what extent NbS has been studied. In this regard, this study employed latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling and keyword analysis to quantitatively evaluate the research trends of NbS. Among research papers on NbS searched on SCOPUS, 2,625 studies (2009-2022) were analyzed by LDA. As a result, NbS-related articles were classified into seven topics (i.e., Urban governance, Urban green infrastructure, Wastewater treatment, Coastal protection, Flood mitigation, Carbon sequestration, and Sustainable agriculture). Of these, the urban and water-related topics accounted for the largest proportion. In contrast, the carbon sequestration and sustainable agriculture topics accounted for a smaller proportion, but the proportion significantly increased over time. As a result of keyword analysis, the frequency of urban and water keywords remained high. In contrast, the frequency of climate change and carbon keywords was low and has recently increased. In the keyword network, the co-occurrence frequency and connection of urban and water keywords were initially high. Still, over time, keywords related to climate change and carbon increased similarly to those related to urban and water. The findings of this study imply that NbS has mainly focused on urban and water-related researches. Still, climate change and carbon-related researches may also be actively handled in relation to NbS in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, climate change and carbon sinks have been widely studied by the academic community, and relevant research results have emerged in abundance. In this paper, a scientometric analysis of 747 academic works published between 1991 and 2018 related to climate change and carbon sinks is presented to characterize the intellectual landscape by identifying and revealing the basic characteristics, research power, intellectual base, research topic evolution, and research hotspots in this field. The results show that ① the number of publications in this field has increased rapidly and the field has become increasingly interdisciplinary; ② the most productive authors and institutions in this subject area are in the USA, China, Canada, Australia, and European countries, and the cooperation between these researchers is closer than other researchers in the field; ③ 11 of the 747 papers analyzed in this study have played a key role in the evolution of the field; and ④ in this paper, we divide research hotspots into three decade-long phases (1991-1999, 2000-2010, and 2011-present). Drought problems have attracted more and more attention from scholars. In the end, given the current trend of the studies, we conclude a list of research potentials of climate change and carbon sinks in the future. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of climate change and carbon sink research to better understand the global trends and directions that have emerged in this field over the past 28 years, which can also provide reference for future research in this field.

This paper provides information on the impact of recent climate change on carbon sequestration in peatland systems in South West England. This is important because peatlands have the potential to sequester and hold large quantities of anthropogenically released CO 2. This paper investigates whether there has been a reduction in the strength of carbon sinks in a valley mire and blanket bog, which occur on the limits of the biogeographical envelop for peatlands in Britain. Past rates of carbon accumulation were calculated from peat depth and the sequential analysis of peat age, bulk density and carbon content from cores taken from valley mire and blanket bog. At the valley mire site contemporary net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) was calculated by measuring inputs to the peat body, via net primary productivity (NPP), of Sphagna. Losses of C from the peat body were calculated by measuring CH 4 , and aquatic carbon, calculated from catchment export of particulate and dissolved organic carbon. The study found similar mean rates of carbon accumulation since 1850 of 11.26 t ± 0.68 t CO 2 e ha -1  yr -1 (307 g C m -2  yr -1 ) in valley mire and 11.77 t ± 0.88 t CO 2 e ha -1  yr -1 (321 g C m -2  yr -1 ) in blanket bog. The mean present-day CO 2 sequestration rate for Sphagna on valley mire was calculated to be 9.13 t ± 0.98 t CO 2 e ha -1  yr -1 (249 g C m -2  yr -1 ). Both past and contemporary rates of CO 2 sequestration were found to be at the maxima of those reported for temperate peatlands. NPP was found to vary according to microform with higher rates of carbon sequestration found in lawn and hummock microforms compared with pools. Our work suggests that recent changes in the climate appear to have had limited impact on the strength of peatland carbon sinks in South West England., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Scholars concerned with abuses of the "resource privilege" by the governments of developing states sometimes call for national sovereignty over the natural resources that lie within its borders. While such claims may resist a key driver of the "resource curse" when applied to mineral resources in the ground, and are often recognized as among a people's territorial rights, their implications differ in the context of climate change, where they are invoked on behalf of a right to extract and combust fossil fuels that is set in opposition to global climate change mitigation imperatives. Moreover, granting full national sovereignty over territorial carbon sinks may conflict with commitments to equity in the sharing of national mitigation burdens, since much of the planet's carbon sink capacity lies within territorial borders to which peoples have widely disparate access. In this paper, I shall explore this tension between a global justice principle that is often applied to mineral resources and its tension with contrary principles that are often applied to carbon sink access, developing an analysis that seeks to reconcile what would otherwise appear to be fundamentally incompatible aims.

Carbon emissions are critical to climate change, and land-use change is an essential source of growth in carbon emissions. Research on land-use carbon emissions has become one of the hotspots in academic research. To explore the research hotspots and development trends of land-use carbon emissions in the last 20 years, CiteSpace software was used to conduct a quantitative analysis of relevant literature. This paper was based on the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science (WoS) database literature on land-use carbon emissions from 2001 to 2020. The scientific research cooperation network CiteSpace software, with keyword co-occurrence, clustering, and burst word detection, was used to systematically analyze the main research strengths, hotspots and frontiers and clarify the research progress. The research results are as follows: (1) the amount of literature and the depth of research on land-use carbon emissions have increased yearly. However, there is little cooperation between research institutions and scholars, and there is still a lack of large-scale and stable research teams. (2) At the research hotspot level, the English literature focuses on building models and theoretical frameworks to study the internal mechanisms and driving factors of carbon emissions and climate change. The Chinese literature focuses on achieving regional carbon emissions reductions and carbon cycle goals and optimizing a low-carbon economy, transportation and land-use structure. (3) Research frontiers and trends show that the English literature first explored carbon sequestration, organic carbon, and carbon accounting. In China, the research frontiers are gradually becoming focused on influencing factors, decoupling analysis, and the built environment. The study will strengthen the intensity and depth of global carbon emission research and provide a reference for improving global climate change, protecting ecology and balancing economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transport sector is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases, adding in Spain near a quarter of the total national emissions, the majority in road transport. Therefore, road contribution to climate change should be mitigated to achieve the proposed goals in the fight against climate change. Policies and strategies suggest several preventive mitigation options, but have paid little attention to compensatory mitigation. We have conducted a theoretical case study in a Spanish province, Segovia, estimating the carbon dioxide emissions in the road network between 2015 and 2050, and analysing different compensation possibilities through conservation agriculture, agroforestry, afforestation and hedgerow plantation. We have calculated carbon sequestration in the reference period and costs per tonne for each option, estimating the budget range of offsetting road carbon emission, and funding possibilities, especially through fuel taxes. The paper demonstrates that offsetting carbon emissions produced by roads in this area is technically possible and highly desirable, unifying carbon sequestration, biodiversity improvement and rural development. The main challenge is funding, which depends largely on the political will and the awareness of the citizens., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology is an emerging technology with large-scale emission reduction potential and an essential component of the global response to climate change to achieve net-zero goals. As the two most important countries in global climate governance, it is necessary to review and examine the current status and trends of research in the field of CCUS in China and the USA. This paper uses bibliometric tools to review and analyze peer-reviewed articles in the Web of Science from both countries during 2000–2022. The results show a significant increase in research interest among scholars from both countries. The number of publications in the CCUS field in China and the USA was 1196 and 1302, respectively, showing an increasing trend. China and the USA have become the most influential countries in CCUS. And the USA has a more significant academic influence on a global scale. Furthermore, the research hotspots in the field of CCUS are diverse and differentiated. That is, China and the USA pay attention to different research hotspots or have different focuses in different periods. This paper also finds that new capture materials and technology development, geological storage monitoring and early warning, CO2 utilization and new energy development, sustainable business models, incentive policies and measures, and public awareness are critical directions for future research in the field of CCUS, to provide a comprehensive review and comparison of CCUS technology development in China and the USA. It helps to gain insight into the research differences and linkages between the two countries in the field of CCUS and identify the research gaps between them. And place some consensus that policymakers can use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide is one of the most important greenhouse gas, which concentration increase in the atmosphere is associated to climate change and global warming. Besides CO2 capture in large emission point sources, the capture of this pollutant from atmosphere may be required due to significant contribution of diffuse sources. The technologies that remove CO2 from atmosphere (creating a negative balance of CO2) are called negative emission technologies. Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage may play an important role for CO2 mitigation. It represents the combination of bioenergy production and carbon capture and storage, keeping carbon dioxide in geological reservoirs. Algae have a high potential as the source of biomass, as they present high photosynthetic efficiencies and high biomass yields. Their biomass has a wide range of applications, which can improve the economic viability of the process. Thus, this paper aims to assess the atmospheric CO2 capture by algal cultures., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Coal power plants have been a major source of undesirable emissions. Despite the technological advancements in renewable energies, coal units are still in-service in many developed and developing countries due to their reliability, adequacy, and flexibility for power delivery. There are some promising technologies for cleaner operation during power production from coal, including supercritical boiler (SC) design and carbon capture and storage (CCS), however, the challenging in innovating effective methods is still open to expand the boundary of knowledge in this speciality. This paper introduces a novel and simple method for reducing CO2 emissions and improving the dynamic responses of a 600 MW SC coal power plant by Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technique. A wide-range data-driven feedforward ANN model has been identified and verified for the various operations recorded as closed-loop data-sets, which covers all situations of startup, once-through mode, and even emergency shutdown of the unit. The closed-loop SC plant model has been augmented with an inverse multivariable coordinate NN controller, developed by analogous learning algorithm to improve the plant automation. With precisely selected setpoints, as operational rules, of temperature, pressure, and earliest possible power demand signals, the automated SC plant has been capable to operate with lower coal consumption - and thus lower emissions – than the existing operation strategy during startup, normal operation, and emergency shutdown modes. The improvement in dynamic responses have been quantified through simulations with comparison with existing performance, which have resulted in an overall average reduction of 2.143 Kg/s in coal consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of temperate forests has the potential to increase carbon sinks and mitigate climate change. However, those opportunities may be confounded by negative climate change impacts. We therefore need a better understanding of climate change alterations to temperate forest carbon dynamics before developing mitigation strategies. The purpose of this project was to investigate the interactions of species composition, fire, management and climate change on the Copper–Pine creek valley, a temperate coniferous forest with a wide range of growing conditions. To do so, we used the LANDIS-II modelling framework including the new Forest Carbon Succession extension to simulate forest ecosystems under four different productivity scenarios, with and without climate change effects, until 2050. Significantly, the new extension allowed us to calculate the Net Sector Productivity, a carbon accounting metric that integrates above and below-ground carbon dynamics, disturbances, and the eventual fate of forest products. The model output was validated against literature values. The results implied that the species optimum growing conditions relative to current and future conditions strongly influenced future carbon dynamics. Warmer growing conditions led to increased carbon sinks and storage in the colder and wetter ecoregions but not necessarily in the others. Climate change impacts varied among species and site conditions and this indicates that both of these components need to be taken into account in when considering climate change mitigation activities and adaptive management. The introduction of a new carbon indicator – Net Sector Productivity, promises to be useful in assessing management effectiveness and mitigation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The building sector is responsible for nearly 40% of the total global direct and indirect CO2 emissions. Urban green infrastructure, which includes features such as urban trees, vegetation, green roofs, and green facades, are examples of nature-based solutions often employed as municipal climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. This approach offers a range of cost-effective strategies for reducing municipal CO2 emissions and presents compelling public policy co-benefits such as improved urban livability and enhanced environmental conditions. For municipalities to confidently deploy these solutions at a scale necessary to achieve climate benefits, acquiring knowledge of quantifiable and demonstrated outcomes is an essential requirement. The objectives of this paper are to (1) provide a comprehensive analysis of the advantages and limitations of nature-based solutions (NBS) to address the challenge of reducing CO2 emissions; (2) evaluate existing design guidelines and policies as may be available across Canada, and that that support the of implementation of NBS in urban agglomerations; (3) identify knowledge gaps and research needs to address challenges to the implementation of NBS. In this review, suggestions and requirements as presented in these documents are examined while giving due consideration to the scientific evidence available in research papers. It was found that the adoption of NBS can contribute to carbon neutral communities through reduced building energy consumption and carbon sequestration. Supportive guidelines and policies have been developed, or are in development, to promote the implementation of NBS at the city scale, despite challenges in assessing, quantitatively, their impact due to uncertainties in data, methods, and scale. Nonetheless, existing research provides sufficient evidence to qualify the measures and suggestions outlined in the guidelines and policies described in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioengineered/genome-edited carbon capture and sequestration (BE/GEd-CCS) crops are being developed to mitigate climate change. This paper explores how technology, regulation, funding, and social implications, could shape the development and deployment of these crops. We conclude that some of the technological efforts to create BE/GEd-CCS crops may work. Still, stakeholders must agree on generally accepted methods of measuring how much carbon is captured in the soil and its value. The regulatory space for BE/GEd-CCS crops remains fluid until the first crops are reviewed. BE/GEd-CCS crops have received considerable initial funding and may benefit financially more from other federal programs and voluntary carbon markets. BE/GEd-CCS crops may continue perpetuating social equity concerns about agricultural biotechnology due to a lack of oversight. We argue that stakeholders need to pursue a multidisciplinary view of BE/GEd-CCS crops that draw in varying perspectives for effective development and deployment. Communication is needed between researchers and policymakers involved in either developing BE/GEd-CCS crops or developing voluntary carbon markets. We argue for the start of a conversation both across disciplines and between researchers and policymakers about the development and deployment of BE/GEd-CCS crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and separation constitute an important field of research as we seek to reduce the effects of climate change. Because of their porosity, resilient crystallinity, high adsorption capacity, and affinity for CO2, cyclodextrin-based metal-organic frameworks (CD-MOFs) have emerged as attractive materials for carbon capture. This paper gives an overview of CD-MOFs and their applications in CO2 capture and separation. Several studies have been conducted to synthesize and characterize CD-MOFs for CO2 capture. The causes of the high binding affinity of CO2 in CD-MOFs were discovered through mechanistic studies on CO2 adsorption. Furthermore, CD-MOF modifications have been carried out to improve the sorption capacity and selectivity of CO2 adsorption. Meanwhile, several researchers have reported using CD-MOFs for gaseous CO2 membrane separation. This paper also highlights the current gaps in CD-MOF research and future outlooks in carbon capture and separation using CD-MOFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen (N) cycle has the potential to regulate climate change through its influence on carbon (C) sequestration. Although extensive researches have been done to explore whether or not progressive N limitation (PNL) occurs under CO2 enrichment, a comprehensive assessment of the processes that regulate PNL is still lacking. Here, we quantitatively synthesized the responses of all major processes and pools in terrestrial N cycle with meta-analysis of CO2 experimental data available in the literature. The results showed that CO2 enrichment significantly increased N sequestration in plant and litter pools but not in soil pool. Thus, the basis of PNL occurrence partially exists. However, CO2 enrichment also significantly increased the N influx via biological N fixation, but decreased the N efflux via leaching. In addition, no general diminished CO2 fertilization effect on plant growth over time was observed. Overall, our analyses suggest that the extra N supply by the increased biological N fixation and decreased leaching may potentially alleviate PNL under elevated CO2 conditions. Moreover, our synthesis showed that CO2 enrichment increased soil ammonium (NH4+) but decreased nitrate (NO3-). The different responses of NH4+ and NO3-, and the consequent biological processes, may result in changes in soil microenvironment, community structures and above-belowground interactions, which could potentially affect the terrestrial biogeochemical cycles and the feedback to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Dual Carbon" initiative is a two-stage carbon reduction goal proposed by China, with significant implications for global climate change mitigation. This article examines the impact of the "Dual Carbon" strategy on China's forestry development and explores how to leverage this strategy to facilitate the transformation and advancement of the forestry sector. Current review indicated that forestry has the advantage of achieving higher emission reduction targets at a low cost. Starting with an overview of the "Dual Carbon" strategy, this paper analyzes the carbon sequestration potential of plants and soil, and the challenges and opportunities faced by forestry development under this framework. Furthermore, we outline implementation pathways for forestry development, aiming to provide insights for the progress of China's forestry sector. Overall, it should be noted that the priority is to vigorously develop timber resources, and we also need to vigorously develop and protect forestry talent with the support of China's policies. By trapping into the carbon storage capabilities and leveraging carbon trading mechanisms of forests, a favorable ecological environment can be created, thus achieving the goal of carbon neutrality. Highlights: • Forest development and its carbon sinks, attributed to plant and soil have the potential in carbon sequestration process, thus helping China achieve carbon neutrality. • The supply of forest products and the balance of economic growth and environmental protection are the key difficulties under the "Dual Carbon" strategy. • Trading forest carbon sinks can boost China's sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In this paper, the differences in carbon sequestration microbial communities in different wetland types and their main influencing factors were investigated. It was found that the alpha diversity of cbbM carbon-sequestering microorganisms was consistent with the change trend in the total carbon content. Acidithiobacillus was used as a biomarker in lakeside wetlands, and Thiothrix and Thiodictyon were used as biomarkers in marsh wetlands. The diversity of cbbM carbon-fixing microorganisms was primarily influenced by the total nitrogen content, while the community structure was significantly affected by the soil total carbon content. The increase in soil temperature and humidity was conducive to the carbon-sequestering process of Thiomicrospira, Thiomonas, Polaromonas and Acidithiobacillus. The changes in wetland types seriously affected the characteristics of cbbM carbon sequestration in microbial communities, and a warm and humid climate may be conducive to wetland carbon sequestration. Carbon-sequestering microorganisms play an important role in the carbon cycle of wetland ecosystems. However, the response mechanism of carbon-sequestering microbial communities to wetland type changes and their relationship with soil carbon remain unclear. To explore these differences and identify the main influencing factors, this study selected marsh wetlands, river wetlands and lakeside wetlands around Qinghai Lake as research subjects. High-throughput sequencing was employed to analyze the functional gene cbbM of carbon-sequestering microorganisms. The results revealed that the alpha diversity of cbbM carbon-sequestering microorganisms mirrored the trend in total carbon content, with the highest diversity observed in marsh wetlands and the lowest in lakeside wetlands. The dominant bacterial phylum was Proteobacteria, with prevalent genera including Thiothrix, Acidithiobacillus, and Thiodictyon. Acidithiobacillus served as a biomarker in lakeside wetlands, while two other genera were indicative of marsh wetlands. The hierarchical partitioning analysis indicated that the diversity of cbbM carbon-fixing microorganisms was primarily influenced by the total nitrogen content, while the community structure was significantly affected by the soil total carbon content. Moreover, an increased soil temperature and humidity were found to favor the carbon fixation processes of Thiomicrospira, Thiomonas, Polaromonas, and Acidithiobacillus. In summary, changes in wetland types seriously affected the characteristics of cbbM carbon sequestration in microbial communities, and a warm and humid climate may be conducive to wetland carbon sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon Capture and Storage is being actively developed for deployment in fossil fuel power stations in an attempt to reduce future emissions of CO2 due to concerns about climate change. The deployment of this technology will cause an inevitable reduction in the overall efficiency of any electricity generation plant leading to an increase in demand for the fossil fuels used to power the generation process. This paper estimates the average reduction in generation efficiency caused by the imposition of Carbon Capture and Storage and considers its effects upon the depletion rate of global coal reserves. Future production of coal is modelled using a symmetrical production curve. The results suggest that the widespread adoption of Carbon Capture and Storage may result in the exhaustion of coal reserves several decades in advance of when this may happen if CCS is not deployed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is a contribution to the ongoing debate about the selection of the approach for carbon accounting in wood products to be used, in the future, in the national greenhouse gas inventories under the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). Two accounting approaches are used in this analysis: the stock-change approach and the atmospheric-flow approach. They are applied to the Portuguese Eucalyptus globulus forest sector. To achieve this objective, the fluxes of wood removed from the forest are tracked through its life cycle, which includes products manufacture (mainly pulp and paper), use and final disposal (landfilling, incineration and composting). This study develops a framework to the estimation of carbon sequestration in the forest of E. globulus, a fast growing species, more specifically, in the calculation of the conversion factors such as bark and foliage percentages and densities, used to convert wood volumes into total biomass. A mass balance approach based on real data from mills is also proposed, in order to assess carbon emissions from wood processing. The results show that E. globulus forest sector was a carbon sink, but the magnitude of the carbon sequestration differs substantially depending on the accounting approach used. The contribution of the forest ecosystem was smaller than the aggregated contribution of wood products in use and in landfills (including industrial waste), which reinforces the role that wood products play in national carbon budgets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: For the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of the British Society of Soil Science, this short paper explores the idea that research on soil organic matter has remained a central theme within soil science over the past 70 years, albeit with changing emphasis and application. The number of publications on soil organic matter has increased greatly in recent decades; for example, there were almost 35 000 journal papers with this theme in the decade 2007–2016. Several topics in research on soil organic matter, such as soil fertility, have endured for a number of decades, with publications found on soil organic matter and fertility in the decade 1947–1956. A search with other keywords occurring with soil, such as climate change, biodiversity, fertility, quality, health and security, showed that several topics did not appear before the 1970s and 1980s, but since then the sub‐topics and applications have diversified. Carbon is a keyword that has become more associated with publications on soil organic matter; carbon is in over half of soil organic matter publications of the last decade. A closer examination of research on agricultural soil carbon sequestration since 1990 reveals that the focus of papers in the literature has changed over this period. A closer examination of papers on modelling shows that the next generation of soil organic matter models is developing from pseudo first‐order decay models using conceptual pools and prescribed controls of turnover time to vertically resolved, microbially explicit models representing mineral surface and plant interactions. Given its higher policy profile during the last 2 years, research on soil organic matter and soil carbon sequestration is predicted to have a bright future. Highlights: The number of publications on soil organic matter has increased greatly in recent decades. Soil fertility research has endured for many decades, whereas other topics have diversified. Soil organic matter has been increasingly associated with carbon, which has changed the focus of papers since 1990. Expanding policy attention to soil organic matter research during the last 2 years suggests a bright future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kirschbaum (Mitig Adapt Strat Glob Change 11:1151-1164, 2006) explores the climatic impact over time of temporarily sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. He concludes that temporary storage of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere ''achieves effectively no climate-change mitigation''. His strongly worded statement begs for a response. This paper argues that Kirschbaum's conclusion is an artifact of the specific perspective of his analysis and his choice of a definition for climate-change impact. Even temporary sinks put us on a lower path for climate change, a path that will not otherwise be accessible. For carbon sinks in the terrestrial biosphere, we argue that sooner is better and longer is better, but even known temporary sinks have value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into the multifaceted realm of mangrove forests, focusing on their applications, future prospects, challenges and strategies for ensuring environmental sustainability. The introduction section provides an overview of mangrove forests and their significance in coastal ecosystems. The applications section highlights the diverse roles of mangroves, ranging from coastal protection to carbon sequestration and their contributions to local economies. Exploring the future prospects of mangrove forests, the paper examines their potential in mitigating climate change, supporting biodiversity, and sustaining ecosystem services. However, the challenges section underscores the numerous threats faced by mangroves, including habitat loss, pollution, and climate change impacts. To address these challenges and ensure environmental sustainability, the strategies section proposes integrated approaches such as conservation efforts, sustainable management, and community engagement. This paper contributes to the understanding of mangrove ecosystems and their pivotal role in promoting a resilient and sustainable environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The roles digital media-technologies play in raising public issues relating to emerging technologies and their potential for engaging publics with science and policy assessments is a lively field of inquiry in Science and Technology Studies (STS). This paper presents an analysis of controversies over proposals for the large-scale removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CDR). The study combines a digital method (web-querying) with document analysis to map debates about two CDR approaches: bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and afforestation. In the first step, we locate actors using the web to engage with BECCS and afforestation and map their alignments in relation to competing framings of CDR. In a second step, we examine the devices deployed by UK-based actors to evidence and contest the feasibility of BECCS and afforestation. Our analysis shows that policy distinctions between "natural" and "engineered" CDR are used flexibly in practice and do not map neatly onto actor engagement with BECCS and afforestation. We highlight the predominance of cross-cutting techno-economic expertise and argue that framings of CDR as a solution to governing climate change may contribute to public disengagement from climate policy processes. The paper reflects on methods for studying controversies, publics, and issues emerging around processes of technoscientific assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) plays an important role in promoting developing countries to reduce carbon emission and meet the requirement for carbon reduction under carbon neutral and carbon peak targets. To evaluate the incentive effect of subsidization mechanisms on CCS investment, the paper incorporates two incentives into the model, considers the effects of the carbon trading price, electricity price, and other uncertain factors on the investment behaviors for CCS projects under uncertainty and explores incentive intensity of two policies on investment based on the real option method. The results show that even in the case of full operating cost subsidies and double electricity price subsidies, the power plant still delays CCS investment due to the imperfection of carbon market. The most appropriate policies for supporting immediate investment in CCS project are identified in the paper by considering the critical carbon price and electricity price in different scenarios. Additionally, the findings show that it is more efficient for the electricity price subsidy than cost subsidy with same subsidy proportion under single policy condition, while the minimum subsidy amount required to invest immediately is 32.86 million CNY in the combination of the two policies. This provides environmental policymakers with valuable insights on promoting CCS deployment under the context of carbon reduction. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a commentary on the paper in GCB by Moinet et al. (2023) entitled "Carbon for soils, not soils for carbon". The paper challenges two claims often made for soil carbon sequestration: (1) Sequestration of C in agricultural soils can make a substantial contribution to climate change mitigation. (2) Increasing SOC will routinely lead to increased crop yields and contribute to global food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alder-based shifting cultivation, particularly, has been identified for its unique ecological and socio-economic role. It is a distinctive agricultural practice in Nagaland, India, with significant implications for climate change. This study explores the interactions between alder-based shifting cultivation and climate change dynamics. The paper examines how integrating alders into the shifting cultivation system influences carbon sequestration and soil enrichment in this bio-diversity-rich but environmentally vulnerable region. The paper comprehensively analyses the carbon balance within this managed ecosystem. The findings emphasise alder trees' role in enhancing nitrogen levels in the soil and promoting carbon storage in the biomass and soil organic matter. This paper advocates that agroforestry systems can be effective strategies for climate-resilient development in Nagaland if adequately managed. The study concludes that recognising and reinforcing the role of indigenous practices is crucial in shaping effective and inclusive climate change responses in the region. The other hilly parts of the country can set this as a model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a pressing global concern with far-reaching implications and its impact on soil properties is a critical aspect that warrants comprehensive investigation. This abstract delves into the multifaceted effects of climate change on soil, highlighting the intricate relationships between climate patterns and soil characteristics. Rising temperatures associated with climate change contribute to increased evaporation rates, leading to changes in soil moisture levels. These alterations can influence soil structure, affecting porosity, compaction and water retention capacity. Additionally, shifting precipitation patterns may result in changes to soil erosion and sedimentation rates, impacting nutrient cycling and the overall fertility of the soil. The increase in extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts, intensifies soil erosion and nutrient loss. Changes in temperature and precipitation also influence microbial activity and diversity in the soil, impacting crucial processes like decomposition and nutrient mineralization. These alterations in microbial communities can further cascade into shifts in soil organic matter content and nutrient availability. Furthermore, the interaction between climate change and soil properties extends to the realm of soil carbon sequestration. Altered conditions may affect the balance between carbon inputs and outputs, influencing the capacity of soils to act as carbon sinks. Understanding these complex dynamics is imperative for sustainable land management practices and developing strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on soil properties. This review paper throws light on the complex interplay between climate change and soil properties underscoring the need for interdisciplinary research to unravel the intricacies of this relationship. Such knowledge is indispensable for formulating effective adaptation and mitigation strategies to safeguard soil health, ensuring the resilience of ecosystems and global food security in the face of ongoing climate challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blue carbon has been proposed as a nature-based solution for climate change mitigation; however, a limited number of published works and data and knowledge gaps hinder the development of small island developing states' (SIDS) national blue carbon resources globally. This paper reviews the blue carbon ecosystems of Seychelles as a case study in the context of SIDS, comparing estimations by the Blue Carbon Lab and recent blue carbon (mangrove and seagrass) evaluations submitted to the Seychelles national government. Mangroves (2195 ha, 80% in Aldabra Atoll) and seagrasses (142,065 ha) dominate in Seychelles, with coral reefs having the potential for carbon sequestration (169,000 ha). Seychelles is on track to protecting its blue carbon, but these systems are threatened by rising sea levels, coastal squeeze, erosion, severe storms, and human activities. The importance of carbon inventories, accounting institutions, and continuous monitoring of blue carbon systems is discussed. Blue accounting is necessary for accurate accounting of carbon sequestration and carbon storage, generating carbon credits, and representing impactful reductions in greenhouse gases for NDCs. Challenges and opportunities include policy legislation regarding ownership rights, accreditation and certification for carbon credits, sustainable financing mechanisms like natural asset companies and blue tokens, local engagement for long-term success, and carbon market dynamics following COP27. The restoration and regulation of blue carbon resources for optimal ecosystem services delivery, carbon inventories, and blue carbon policy are recommended development priorities. Blue carbon ecosystems have the potential to contribute to NDCs of SIDS while simultaneously offering sustainable development pathways for local communities through the multiple ecosystem services they provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetlands provide numerous ecological and economic services to mankind. The soils of wetlands are one of the largest sinks of carbon (C) among the terrestrial ecosystems and can play an important role in offsetting the emission of C as a greenhouse gas (GHG) to the atmosphere. India is bestowed with enriched wetland ecosystems that support diverse and unique habitats. The potential of the wetlands in terms of C capture and sequestration has not been quantified. Therefore, in the present paper, an assessment of C capture from different sources and its ultimate deposition in soils leading to sequestration has been done in three different types of wetlands, one created sewage-fed and two natural floodplain oxbow lakes, in the West Bengal state of India. Multiple seasonal sampling of water, macrophytes, and soil was done to assess the primary productivity, dissolved C, and deposition of C in soils of the wetlands in comparison to reference upland sites. All these wetlands are productive ecosystems as indicated by the physicochemical parameters of water and soil. The quantity of C accumulated up to 0.3 m depth in the oxbow lakes was to the tune of 144–166 Mg/ha, which was 3.43–4.78 times higher than that in the corresponding reference upland sites. In the sewage-fed wetland, the C accumulation estimated as 50 Mg/ha was 1.27 times higher than its corresponding upland site. So, the wetland ecosystems, particularly the floodplains, are highly efficient in accumulating C in their soils and thus can somewhat negate the GHG emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the relative contribution of light and temperature on net ecosystem CO2 uptake during the 2006 growing season in a polygonal tundra ecosystem in the Lena River Delta in Northern Siberia (72º220 N, 126º300 E). We demonstrate that the timing of warm periods may be an important determinant of the magnitude of the ecosystem's carbon sink function, as they drive temperature-induced changes in respiration. Hot spells during the early portion of the growing season are shown to be more influential in creating mid-day surface-to-atmosphere net ecosystem CO2 exchange fluxes than those occurring later in the season. In this work we also develop and present a bulk flux partition model to better account for tundra plant physiology and the specific light conditions of the arctic region that preclude the successful use of traditional partition methods that derive a respiration-temperature relationship from all night-time data. Night-time, growing season measurements are rare during the arctic summer, however, so the new method allows for temporal variation in the parameters describing both ecosystem respiration and gross uptake by fitting both processes at the same time. Much of the apparent temperature sensitivity of respiration seen in the traditional partition method is revealed in the new method to reflect seasonal changes in basal respiration rates. Understanding and quantifying the flux partition is an essential precursor to describing links between assimilation and respiration at different time scales, as it allows a more confident evaluation of measured net exchange over a broader range of environmental conditions. The growing season CO2 sink estimated by this study is similar to those reported previously for this site, and is substantial enough to withstand the long, low-level respiratory CO2 release during the rest of the year to maintain the site's CO2 sink function on an annual basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An individual-based simulation model, EFIMOD, was used to simulate the response of forest ecosystems to additional nitrogen deposition. The general scheme of the model includes forest growth depending on nitrogen uptake by plants and mineralization of soil organic matter. The mineralization rate is dependent on nitrogen content in litter and forest floor horizons. Three large forest areas in Central European Russia with a total area of about 17 000 km2 in distinct environmental conditions were chosen. Simulations were carried out with two climatic scenarios (stable climate and climate change) and different levels of nitrogen deposition. The simulations showed that increased nitrogen deposition leads to increased productivity of trees, increased organic matter content in organic soil horizons, and an increased portion of deciduous tree species. For the climate change scenario, the same effects on productivity and shifts in species composition were predicted but there was a negative effect on the accumulation of organic matter in soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil carbon sequestration plays an essential role in mitigating CO2 increases and the subsequently global greenhouse effect. The storages and dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) of 0-30 cm soil depth in different landscape types including beaches, reservoir and pond, reed wetland, forest wetland, bush wetland, farmland, building land, bare land (severe saline land) and salt field in the modern Yellow River Delta (YRD), were studied based on the data of the regional survey and laboratory analysis. The landscape types were classified by the interpretation of remote sensing images of 2000 and 2009, which was calibrated by field survey results. The results revealed an increase of 10.59km² in the modem YRD area from 2000 to 2009. The SOC density varied ranging from 0.73 kgm-2 to 21.60 kgm-2 at depth of 30 cm. There were ∼3.97 x 106 t and 3.98 x 106 t SOC stored in the YRD in 2000 and 2009, respectively. The SOC storages changed greatly in beaches, bush wetland, farm land and salt field which were affected dominantly by anthropogenic activities. The area of the YRD increased greatly within 10 yr, however, the small increase of SOC storage in the region was observed due to landscape changes, indicating that the modern YRD was a potential carbon sink and anthropogenic activity was a key factor for SOC change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate controls fire regimes through its influence on the amount and types of fuel present and their dryness; CO2 availability, in turn, constrains primary production by limiting photosynthetic activity in plants. However, although fuel accumulation depends on biomass production, and hence CO2 availability, the links between atmospheric CO2 and biomass burning are not well known. Here a fire-enabled dynamic global vegetation model (the Land surface Processes and eXchanges model, LPX) is used to attribute glacial-interglacial changes in biomass burning to CO2 increase, which would be expected to increase primary production and therefore fuel loads even in the absence of climate change, vs. climate change effects. Four general circulation models provided Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) climate anomalies -- that is, differences from the pre-industrial (PI) control climate -- from the Palaeoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase 2, allowing the construction of four scenarios for LGM climate. Modelled carbon fluxes in biomass burning were corrected for the model's observed biases in contemporary biome-average values. With LGM climate and low CO2 (185 ppm) effects included, the modelled global flux was 70 to 80% lower at the LGM than in PI time. LGM climate with pre-industrial CO2 (280 ppm) however yielded unrealistic results, with global and Northern Hemisphere biomass burning fluxes greater than in the pre-industrial climate. Using the PI CO2 concentration increased the modelled LGM biomass burning fluxes for all climate models and latitudinal bands to between four and ten times their values under LGM CO2 concentration. It is inferred that a substantial part of the increase in biomass burning after the LGM must be attributed to the effect of increasing CO2 concentration on productivity and fuel load. Today, by analogy, both rising CO2 and global warming must be considered as risk factors for increasing biomass burning. Both effects need to be included in models to project future fire risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The iron and steel industry is the largest carbon emitter in China's manufacturing sector and one of the most important fields in the country's response to climate change. This paper aims to explain the current situation, technological pathways, and future direction of green and low-carbon development of the iron and steel industry. According to the carbon emissions of the iron and steel industry, this paper analyzes the relationship between steelmaking technologies and carbon emissions, as well as the transformation trend of the world's iron and steel industry, finding that China's iron and steel industry faces both opportunities and challenges. Steel scrap recycling and electric furnace steelmaking technologies, re-electrification, hydrogen metallurgy, resource recycling and by-products, and carbon capture and utilization (CCU) are the main technologies tailored to the transformation pathways, and the optimization of energy consumption structure is an important direction for future development. Therefore, this paper believes that clean energy, as a guarantee for carbon mitigation, will play an increasingly important role in the process towards achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals (the "dual carbon" goals), in addition to the transformation of metallurgical technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon accretion in the atmosphere is having widespread climatic impacts on Pakistan like reduced agricultural productivity, water shortage, and coastal erosion, etc. Tormented with a poor economy, any abrupt scarcity of livelihood resources can breed violence, crime, communal tensions, and a threat to national security. Encumbered by the financial and technical deficit, Pakistan is facing considerable challenges for crafting a pragmatic climate security regime. Significant divergence in the public and academic opinion on the nature of this threat have attributed to a sluggish policy response so far. This paper, therefore, focuses on Pakistan's Carbon dilemma and critically examines its treatment in national climate policies. It calls for an integrated approach across multiple sectors and mainstreaming of a national security policy with climate-smart infrastructure that assimilates core national security resources. It further calls for political discourses that encompass food, energy, agriculture, health, and even diplomacy to overcome this national threat. Towards the end, this paper proffers some recommendations to mitigate threats to our climate security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]