How Much Can Forests Fight Climate Change? A Sensor in Space Has Answers.

1980s 2020s Unprotected area Protected area Xingu Indigenous Park Brazil Kigosi National Park Tanzania Kutai National Park Indonesia 1980s 2020s Unprotected area Protected area Xingu Indigenous Park Brazil 1980s 2020s Unprotected area Protected area Other Protected Kigosi National Park Tanzania 1980s 2020s Unprotected area Protected area Kutai National Park Indonesia 1980s 2020s Unprotected area Protected area Xingu Indigenous Park Brazil 1980s 2020s Unprotected area Protected area Other Protected Areas Kigosi National Park Tanzania 1980s 2020s Unprotected area Protected area Kutai National Park Indonesia Source: , OpenStreetMap, Landsat By The New York Times and Andreoni reported from Rio de Janeiro and Abraham from New York Over the last century, governments around the world have drawn boundaries to shield thousands of the worlds most valuable ecosystems from destruction, from the forests of Borneo and the Amazon to the savannas of Africa. These protected areas have offered lifelines to species threatened with extinction, supported the ways of life for many traditional communities and safeguarded the water supplies of cities. But reserves are facing increasing pressure, their boundaries largely disregarded as people cut down trees and push deeper into the ecosystems set aside for protection. Now, high in orbit, a new way of seeing forests is making it clear that, even when under assault, protected areas can still be a crucial buffer against climate change. Scientists are using laser technology to gauge the biomass of forests all around the world, which lets them calculate how much planet-warming carbon the trees are keeping out of Earths atmosphere. Quantifying the ability of protected ecosystems to store planet-warming carbon has long been a challenge for researchers. Thats largely because older, flat satellite imagery cant distinguish how tall or wide trees were. We can use these new satellite data streams to monitor forest benefits in three dimensions and do the carbon piece of this in a way we never were able to before, said Laura Duncanson, a remote sensing scientist at the University of Maryland and one of the authors of a . Unprotected areas outside the Tapajos reserve have seen significant deforestation, especially near roads. Development has encroached on the reserve, too, but at a slower pace. Built 1971 Tapajos Environmental Protection Area Est. 2006 Road Map area Brazil 25 miles Highway Built 1971 Tapajos Environmental Protection Area Est. 2006 Road Map area Brazil 30 miles Paved 2019 Other Protected areas Tapajos Unprotected area Gold mines Other Protected areas Tapajos Unprotected area Highway Paved 2019 Gold mines Source: , OpenStreetMap, Landsat We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and your Times account, or for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? . Want all of The Times? .