The United States lost an average of 350,000 acres of Forest each year, roughly the area of a football field every two minutes, according to initial findings from a new satellite-based monitoring tool. Researchers estimate the losses represent 2.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, counting both carbon released from forests and the loss of their future storage capacity.
The U.S. Forest Monitor, developed by researchers at Clark University in Massachusetts, tracked persistent forest loss across the lower 48 states. It found that 9.8 million acres were converted to development or agriculture from 1990 to 2017, equivalent to about 2 percent of U.S. forestland over that period.
The tool uses land-cover imagery from the U.S. Geological Survey. It identifies areas that were forested and then used for development or agriculture for at least five years. Lead author Christopher Williams said the researchers focused on these uses because such changes are often long-lasting and may not revert to forest for decades, if ever.
Development and cropland each accounted for roughly half of the recorded losses. Williams said the agricultural share was higher than some researchers had expected. The findings also show that forest loss was concentrated in the Southeast: 11 states accounted for about 70 percent of the total.
Georgia recorded the largest loss, at nearly 1.2 million acres, and the greatest proportionate decline, with 4.4 percent of its forest lost during the study period. The balance between causes varied by state: 79 percent of Alabama’s forest loss was converted to cropland, while development accounted for nearly 60 percent of identified losses in Texas and South Carolina.
Williams said the monitor provides a historical baseline for tracking land-use change and highlights the need for consistent nationwide monitoring. Researchers are working to update the findings and hope to publish data through 2024 within the next year or so. The tool is funded and maintained by the Forest Carbon Data Partnership, a collaboration of conservation and academic organizations, including Clark University.
Sources: Inside Climate News.