❷Forests give us shade, quiet and one of the harder challenges in the fight against climate change.❷Even as we humans count on forests to soak up a good share of the carbon dioxide we produce, we are threatening their ability to do so. ❸The climate change we are hastening could one day leave us with forests that emit more carbon than they absorb.
❶Thankfully, there is a way out of this trap—but it involves striking a subtle balance. ❷Helping forests flourish as valuable "carbon sinks55 long into the future may require reducing their capacity to absorb carbon now. ❷California is leading the way, as it does on so many climate efforts, in figuring out the details.
❶The state's proposed Forest Carbon Plan aims to double efforts to thin out young trees and clear brush in parts of the forest.❷This temporarily lowers carbon・carrying capacity. （28） ❸But the remaining trees draw a greater share of the available moisture, so they grow and thrive, restoring the forest's capacity to pull carbon from the air. ❷Healthy trees are also better ei2 /abletofend off insects.❺ The landscape is rendered less easily burnable. ❷Even in the event of a fire, fewer trees are consumed.
❶The need for such planning is increasingly urgent. ❷Already, since 2010, drought and insects have killed over 100 million trees in California, most of them in 2016 alone, and wildfires have burned hundreds of thousands of acres.
❶Califomia plans to treat 35,000 acres of forest a year by 2020, and 60,000 by 2030financed from the proceeds of the state's emissions-permit auctions.❷That's only a small share of the total acreage that could benefit, about half a million acres in all, so it will be vital to prioritize areas at greatest risk of fire or drought.
❶The strategy also aims to ensure that carbon in woody material removed from the forests is locked away in the form of solid lumber or burned as biofuel in vehicles that would otherwise run on fossil fuels.❷New research on transportation biofuels is already under way. ❷State governments are well accustomed to managing forests, but traditionally they've focused on wildlife, watersheds and opportunities for recreation.❷Only recently have they come to see the vital part forests will have to play in storing carbon. ❸California's plan, which is expected to be finalized by the （30） governor next year, should serve as a model. m
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森林带给我们阴凉和宁静的同时，也给 我们应对气候变化的战斗带来了一项更严峻 的挑战。（26）就在我们人类依赖森林来吸 收自己产生的大部分二氧化碳时，我们也在 损害着它们的这种能力。我们正在加剧的气 候变化有一天可能会使我们的森林排放出的 碳比它们吸收的更多。 值得庆幸的是，有一种方法可以摆脱这 种困境——但这需要达到一种微妙的平衡。 若要让森林成长为宝贵的“碳汇”并 长久持续下去，可能需要现在就降低它们的 碳吸收能力。加州在处理细节问题方面做出 了表率，正如它在诸多应对气候变化的活动 中所做的一样。 该州提出的“森林碳计划”旨在加 倍努力减少部分林地中幼树的数量并清除灌 垄坐匚这会暂时降低森林的碳承载能力。但 剩余的树木会吸收更多可用的水分，它们」 得以茁壮生长，从而恢复森林从空气中吸收 碳的能力。健康的树木还能更好地抵御昆虫。 这种景观的易燃性会降低。即使发生火灾， 被烧毁的树木也更少。 对这类计划的需求日益迫切。自2010年以 来，干旱和昆虫已经导致加州1亿多棵树木死 亡，其中2016年一年内死亡的树木占据了大 多数；此外野火也烧毁了数十万英亩的森林。 加州计划到2020年，每年治理3.5万英 亩森林；到2030年，每年治理6万英亩森 林----所需资金来自该州排放许可拍卖的收 益。这只是可受益森林总面积的一小部分， 共计约50万英亩，（29 ）因此优先治理最易 发生火灾或旱灾的区域至关重要。 该战略还旨在确保森林中被移除的木材 内的碳以固体木材的形式被封存起来；或者 用作生物燃料供那些原本使用化石燃料的车 辆使用。关于交通所用的生物燃料的新研究 已在进行中。 各州政府对于森林管理已经很有经验， 但他们历来都把关注点放在野生动物、分 水岭和娱乐机会上。直到最近，他们才意 识到森林将在碳储存中发挥重要的作用。 加州的计划有望在明年由州长最终敲 定，这一计划应成为一个典范。