Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2025
07:27
Author Spotlight: On-Site Biochar Production for Woody Debris Incineration in Forestry
Published on: January 5, 2024
2.9K
Using remote sensing to quantify the additional climate benefits of California forest carbon offset projects
Shane R Coffield1, Cassandra D Vo1, Jonathan A Wang1
1Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
Global Change Biology
|September 12, 2022
Summary
California
Area of Science:
- Forestry and Climate Science
- Environmental Policy and Economics
Background:
- California aims for carbon neutrality by 2045, utilizing nature-based climate solutions.
- Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects are a primary source of carbon offsets in California's cap-and-trade program.
- The effectiveness of IFM projects under the California Air Resources Board's protocol requires evaluation as many reach their 10-year mark.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the effectiveness of California's IFM carbon offset projects.
- To evaluate carbon trends and harvest histories using remote sensing data.
- To identify best practices and suggest improvements for future IFM protocol revisions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized remote sensing-based datasets to analyze carbon trends and harvest histories.
- Compared 37 IFM projects with nearby control lands to quantify carbon accumulation and harvest rates.
- Evaluated changes relative to pre-project and pre-enrollment periods.
Main Results:
- Evidence suggests carbon accumulation in IFM projects has generally not been additional.
- Forests in northwestern California show consistent carbon accumulation regardless of project enrollment.
- Harvest rates did not decrease, and carbon accumulation did not increase on most project lands post-enrollment.
Conclusions:
- The current IFM protocol needs improvement to accurately measure and reward additionality.
- Geospatial analysis provides an independent framework for evaluating carbon offset program effectiveness.
- Continued improvement of data products will enhance the assessment of nature-based climate solutions.
Related Concept Videos
01:14The Carbon Cycle
39.4K
Carbon is the basis of all organic matter on Earth, and is recycled through the ecosystem in two primary processes: one in which carbon is exchanged among living organisms, and one in which carbon is cycled over long periods of time through fossilized organic remains, weathering of rocks, and volcanic activity. Human activities, including increased agricultural practices and the burning of fossil fuels, has greatly affected the balance of the natural carbon cycle.
39.4K
01:50Global Climate Change
24.7K
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
24.7K
01:28Carbon-dioxide Fixation
72
Carbon dioxide fixation in prokaryotes enables the assimilation of inorganic carbon into organic molecules, supporting biosynthetic pathways, sustaining ecosystems, and contributing to the global carbon cycle. It also has industrial applications in carbon capture and bioproduct synthesis. Autotrophic organisms rely on this process to utilize CO₂ as a carbon source in diverse environments.The Calvin CycleThe Calvin cycle is the most widespread carbon fixation mechanism, primarily used by...
72
01:46The Calvin Benson Cycle
4.7K
Ribulose 1,5- bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCo) is a critical enzyme that catalyzes carbon dioxide assimilation during photosynthesis. However, it is an inefficient enzyme, having an extremely slow catalytic rate. A typical enzyme can process about a thousand molecules per second; however, RuBisCo fixes only around three-carbon dioxides per second. Photosynthetic cells compensate for this slow rate by synthesizing very high amounts of RuBisCo, making it the most abundant single...
4.7K