Colorado’s forest now emitting more carbon than it absorbs, CSU researchers discover – CBS Colardo
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By
Dillon Thomas
February 11, 2025 / 8:26 PM MST
/ CBS Colorado
According to data reviewed and analyzed by Colorado State University researchers, Colorado’s forest as a collective is now emitting more carbon into the atmosphere than it is absorbing. Data collected between 2002 and 2019 showed the number of carbon sources outnumbered the number of carbon sinks in Colorado’s forest.Carbon sources are areas of the forest that are emitting carbon. Carbon sinks are portions of the forest that are naturally absorbing carbon from the atmosphere via photosynthesis.”One thing we found is Colorado’s forest holds a lot of carbon,” said Tony Vorster, researcher with CSU. “They hold the equivalent of 1.3 billion cars on the road for one year. It’s a lot of carbon.” Vorster said Colorado’s forest as a whole is absorbing nearly half of the amount of carbon as the forest in Oregon — known for its vast forests. “So (Colorado’s forests are) playing a really important role,” Vorster said. However, for decades, Colorado’s forests have been under attack by many factors including logging, development, drought, wildfires and beetle kill. After reviewing nearly two decades of data from across the state, Vorster said they learned the number of carbon sources slightly outweigh the number of carbon sinks in the state. “The forest as a whole is emitting more carbon than it’s capturing,” Vorster said. While humans continue to emit carbon into the atmosphere, Vorster said he believes the biggest contributor to the forest’s carbon deterioration is the surge of beetle kills in recent years. Vorster said the dying trees are now of concern for the climate. “When the trees die, they stop absorbing carbon,” Vorster explained. “And then they hold that carbon until they start to decay and decompose. As they break down, the carbon that was in the wood is released.” Vorster said there are still pockets of the Colorado forest that are doing very well and absorbing high levels of carbon. However, he noted that the data they obtained was from 2002 to 2019. That means the data does neither includes the continued beetle kills nor does it include the extreme wildfire seasons Colorado has endured of late. That includes the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak fires of 2020, which collectively burned more than 300,000 acres. “With more droughts, wildfires and things, it’s likely this is something that is going to continue. Our forests are likely going to continue to be emitters of carbon,” Vorster predicted. Dillon Thomas is multi-Emmy Award winning general assignment reporter/MSJ for CBS News Colorado. Read his latest reports or check out his bio and send him an email.
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Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/colorados-forest-carbon-csu-researchers/
