弗吉尼亚州切萨皮克湾恢复工作为气候变化带来好处

研究表明，改善水质也能对抗气候变暖

安纳波利斯, Md -今天, 十大赌博正规老平台’s 环保创新中心 (CIC) released a new report, 弗吉尼亚州切萨皮克湾修复的气候效益. The report examines how efforts to improve water quality in Virginia’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed have also provided a secondary benefit of helping to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

“我们想更好地了解在《十大赌博正规老平台》下的努力是如何实施的 切萨皮克湾流域协议 to improve water quality in Virginia could also generate significant climate mitigation benefits by removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in vegetation or soil,十大赌博正规老平台区技术副总裁苏珊·明尼迈耶说. “The results showed meaningful co-benefits for climate change leaders to consider when scaling conservation and restoration practices throughout the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed. This is proof that restoration projects that aim to improve water quality are also powerful tools to fight climate change.”

“This estimate corroborates findings in a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality evaluation conducted in 2020 which also included analysis of Virginia’s Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), 也称为WIP,切萨皮克湾项目经理詹姆斯·马丁说. “我们的估计表明，弗吉尼亚州的WIP的水质行动, 当完全实现时, could produce more than two million tons of climate mitigation co-benefits while also improving soil health and the resilience of Virginia farms to climate change.”

“根据我们对2019年的分析, 我们估计是459,639吨(416),987公吨)的二氧化碳(CO₂) equivalent per year are removed from the atmosphere by agricultural conservation practices,十大赌博正规老平台区高级地理信息系统分析师艾米丽·维根斯说. “This amount equates to the annual carbon sequestration of 510,000 acres of average U.S. 森林或大约0.占弗吉尼亚州能源相关二氧化碳的4%₂ 排放.”

结果 of this study indicate that a large opportunity exists for accelerating climate action within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 460年,000 tons of annual carbon removal benefits generated by ongoing restoration activities within the agricultural sector in Virginia represent a small portion of the potential mitigation that could be generated with targeted planning and additional investment in the practices that promise the greatest co-benefits for water quality improvement and climate mitigation. The Chesapeake Bay Program provides a robust management framework and technical expertise for scaling land-based climate solutions.

结果

The analysis results showed carbon sequestration from Virginia’s 2019 Best Management Practices (BMPs) totaled 459,639吨(416),987公吨)一氧化碳₂ 相当于在1,699,050英亩农业用地上实践一年. 包括种植树木和灌木在内的做法使188人死亡,833吨二氧化碳当量在41,646英亩的农田, 在森林牧场中吸收的碳最多, 一种将树冠覆盖率提高到至少10%的保护措施. 森林牧场为牲畜提供阴凉, 提高气候适应能力, 减少水土流失, 改善水质, 改善野生动物栖息地, 改善土壤质量. BMPs that included the establishment of perennial woody vegetation such as trees and shrubs generated far greater climate mitigation benefits per acre compared to other BMPs such as reduced tillage, 覆盖种植和肥料管理. 然而, 在弗吉尼亚三百万英亩的农田里, the land area available for tree and shrub establishment is much smaller than the area occupied by crops. Increasing forest and tree canopy cover provides the greatest carbon removal opportunity per acre, while the number of acres available for other agricultural BMPs such as cover crops or reduced tillage is far larger. The total carbon sequestration for cropland conservation practices and herbaceous buffers was 270,1号上807吨,657,404英亩土地.

这两种做法都能提高土壤碳含量, while only practices involving the establishment of woody vegetation like trees and shrubs sequester large amounts of carbon above-ground. The science underpinning forest carbon sequestration is also more established than that for soil carbon sequestration generated by regenerative agricultural practices. The sheer size in acres of croplands have generated a great amount of interest in the climate benefits of climate-smart agriculture. Research is ongoing to develop greater certainty for soil carbon accounting and to establish protocols for soil carbon enhancement practices to increase confidence in soil carbon enhancement.

方法

The methods set out to determine climate benefits of land-based agricultural BMPs towards Chesapeake Bay restoration in Virginia used the COMET-Planner工具 由科罗拉多州立大学和美国医学研究所共同开发.S. 美国农业部(USDA)自然资源保护局(NRCS). COMET-Planner工具 估算温室气体减排和碳固存效益 based on USDA NRCS Practice Standards in the state and county where the practice is implemented. Extensive greenhouse gas emission reductions result from sectors that were beyond the scope of this study. 其中包括动物农业的保护措施, 例如改善牲畜和粪便管理. 切萨皮克湾项目bmp增加了城市和郊区的树木种植, green infrastructure for stormwater management and wetland restoration were not included.

评估弗吉尼亚州bmp的碳去除效益, all recorded BMPs for Virginia within the Chesapeake Bay watershed for the year 2019 were identified. 下一个, the corresponding conservation practice as defined by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service were identified, 并使用COMET-Planner工具估算总二氧化碳当量(CO)₂E)从大气中去除每个县的实践区域. Carbon removal benefits were estimated only for agricultural BMPs that could be matched to an NRCS conservation practice.

要阅读该研究的全文，请访问 http://fjty.mogrenlandscape.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Climate-Benefits-of-Chesapeake-Bay.pdf