Assessing the Role of Forests in Climate Sustainability

Anthropogenic CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> emissions have significantly disrupted Earth's climate system and exert substantial pressure on climate sustainability. U.S. forests have significant potential to act as natural climate solutions by sequestering atmospheric CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> and storing it as woody biomass for decades to centuries. This study aims to robustly model historical U.S. Forest biomass using machine learning models, and, based on the space-for-time theory, project future CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> sequestration and biomass growth under hypothetical climate scenario. Using the remote sensing-based estimate of forest biomass data (2000 to 2019) as benchmark, our machine learning models achieved an R<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> score of 0.8-0.9 in reproducing observations. Projections indicate that older regions hold the greatest potential for enhancing forest biomass, with hotspot regions capable of storing over 10.6 million grams of carbon per hectare. These findings highlight the critical role of targeted forest conservation and management in maximizing carbon sequestration and mitigating climate change, providing essential insights for policy and management strategies.