Research news: Old Growth Forests Are Valuable Carbon Sinks

The News:
Old Growth Forests Are Valuable Carbon Sinks
ScienceDaily (Sep. 14, 2008) — Contrary to 40 years of conventional wisdom, a new analysis published in the journal Nature suggests that old growth forests are usually "carbon sinks" - they continue to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and mitigate climate change for centuries.
However, these old growth forests around the world are not protected by international treaties and have been considered of no significance in the national "carbon budgets" as outlined in the Kyoto Protocol. That perspective was largely based on findings of a single study from the late 1960s which had become accepted theory, and scientists now say it needs to be changed. Read on...

The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Nature.