More than mitigation: The role of forests in climate adaptation
This review explores how forests regulate climate at multiple scales, contributing to global mitigation through carbon uptake and local adaptation by moderating temperatures and water cycles. It shows that forests provide the greatest climate benefits where they are native, underscoring their importance for integrated climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.
Subject Tags
- Climate adaptation
- Forest
- Climate mitigation
Abstract
Forests regulate global and local climates in ways that impact human well-being. In this Review, we discuss the scale-dependent mechanisms through which forests regulate climate, highlighting their contributions to global mitigation and local adaptation. Locally, forests tend to buffer temperatures, cooling in warm conditions and warming in cold ones. In regions that naturally support dense forest cover, trees contribute to global cooling primarily through carbon uptake, with some offsetting from albedo-related warming. By enhancing rainfall interception, evapotranspiration, and cloud formation, forests also influence the hydrological cycle, lowering flood risks in humid regions but often reducing downstream water availability, especially in drier climates. Collectively, these interacting processes show that the greatest climate benefits occur where forests are native, highlighting their importance for both climate adaptation and mitigation.
Citation
Reek, J. E., Zohner, C. M., Smith, G. R., Cook-Patton, S. C., De Frenne, P., D’Odorico, P., ... & Crowther, T. W. (2026). More than mitigation: The role of forests in climate adaptation. Science, 391(6786), 669-678.
TNC Authors
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Susan Cook-Patton
Lead Reforestation Scientist. Tackle Climate Change
The Nature Conservancy
Email: susan.cook-patton@tnc.org -
Robert I. McDonald
Lead Scientist for Nature-based Solutions. Europe
The Nature Conservancy
Email: rob_mcdonald@tnc.org -
Luke A. Parsons
Applied Climate Modeling Scientist. Global Science
The Nature Conservancy
Email: luke.parsons@tnc.org -
Nicholas H. Wolff
Global Director of Climate Science. Global Science
The Nature Conservancy
Email: nicholas.wolff@tnc.org