A Contemporary
Carbon Balance for the Northeast Region
of the United States
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Abstract
Development of regional
policies to reduce net emissions of carbon
dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) would benefit from the quantification of
the major components of the region’s carbon balancefossil
fuel CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and net fluxes between land ecosystems
and the atmosphere. Through spatially detailed inventories of fossil
fuel CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and a terrestrial biogeochemistry model,
we produce the first estimate of regional carbon balance for the Northeast
United States between 2001 and 2005. Our analysis reveals that the
region was a net carbon source of 259 Tg C/yr over this period. Carbon
sequestration by land ecosystems across the region, mainly forests,
compensated for about 6% of the region’s fossil fuel emissions.
Actions that reduce fossil fuel CO<sub>2</sub> emissions are key to
improving the region’s carbon balance. Careful management of
forested lands will be required to protect their role as a net carbon
sink and a provider of important ecosystem services such as water
purification, erosion control, wildlife habitat and diversity, and
scenic landscapes