The California Air Resources Board (CARB) released the second edition of California’s Natural and Working Lands Carbon Inventory this week, showing that even with catastrophic wildfires occurring more recently, the state’s natural and working lands have absorbed more carbon than they released since 2001, helping counterbalance emissions from those fires.
The report takes a comprehensive look at how our forests and farms help fight climate change. To reach California’s 2045 carbon neutrality goals, we must scale approaches such as prescribed fire, Climate Smart Agriculture, and ecosystem restoration.
Highlights for Agriculture:
- In 2022, croplands stored 278 MMT of carbon, equivalent to 5.6% of the carbon stored in California’s natural and working lands. Roughly three quarters of this was contained in the soil.
- Between 2001 and 2022, total cropland carbon stocks (biomass + soil carbon) increased by 15 MMT, driven primarily by increases in perennial orchard biomass carbon stocks.
- From 2014 to 2022, biomass carbon increased across most perennial crop types, largely reflecting expansion in orchard area. Almonds contributed the largest increase, followed by pistachios, walnuts, and citrus. Vineyards in contrast showed a decline in biomass carbon associated with loss in vineyard area.
- Since 2001, gains in perennial biomass carbon have been concentrated in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, with other regions showing small net change overall.
“California’s natural and working lands are proving to be powerful allies in our effort to address climate change,” said CARB Chair Lauren Sanchez. “Even in the face of devastating wildfires, California’s ecosystems continue to grow and absorb carbon dioxide, helping us move toward carbon neutrality. This inventory shows the incredible power of nature and is yet another example of how California continues to stand up for science with innovative programs and policies.”
The inventory is developed to identify how lands can help California achieve carbon neutrality by measuring annual gains and losses year over year. It complements the state’s annual greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) inventory which counts emissions and reductions from about 80 percent of California’s sources of human-caused climate emissions.
The inventory shows that California lands store nearly five billion metric tons of carbon with over 70% of all carbon in forests and shrublands. The inventory accounts for all organic carbon stored in living and dead biomass, near-surface soils, and wood products harvested from within the state.
While the report shows that nature has helped counterbalance wildfire emissions since 2001, California’s lands have more recently lost more carbon than they absorbed because of record-breaking wildfires driven by climate change.
This demonstrates how climate change and other human-induced factors continue to impact the carbon balance of our ecosystems and the importance of California’s efforts to reach carbon neutrality to avoid even worse impacts in the future. It also shows the important role of prescribed fires, which help reduce overgrown vegetation and keep ecosystems healthy, helping prevent destructive wildfires and protect communities.
The inventory underscores the massive amount of carbon in California’s vegetation and soils and the importance of achieving state’s Nature-Based Solutions Climate Targets.
This work is further supported by Governor Newsom’s commitment to conserve 30% of the state’s lands and coastal waters by 2030 (known as 30×30) to help protect natural systems and combat biodiversity loss.
