As the Island confronts the many challenges brought by climate change, a Cape Cod-based research team is helping the Vineyard do its part to keep carbon out of the atmosphere, as well find natural solutions to adapt to a changing planet.
The Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth has released preliminary images from its upcoming study on the Vineyard’s land cover and stored carbon, a project intended to help the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, Sheriff’s Meadow and other decision-makers reach natural solutions to adapt to climate change.
The images show how much carbon dioxide the Vineyard currently stores in its forests, wetlands, coastal, and other areas. They also map out the Vineyard’s different types of land, including conservation and highly developed areas.
This winter, the center’s Climate Smart MV Team intends to release their study, which will be used to make a series of guiding documents focused on natural and cost-effective solutions to climate change. These will include recommendations for the construction, agricultural, and landscaping industries. Assessing climate-driven hazards to the Island and which areas are most threatened will also be a focus.
The maps show that the Vineyard’s biomass, or all its living organic matter, holds 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide. Much of this is thanks to deciduous forest or woodland areas, which cover 45 percent of the Vineyard and sequester around 800,000 tons.
On a global scale, carbon sequestration research can help show how much of the greenhouse gas behind climate change is naturally kept out of the atmosphere. The current and future potential of land and biomass to store carbon is one way to lessen climate change’s effects.
“Everyone is working on what little part they can do to mitigate climate change,” Emily Sturdivant of the Climate Smart MV team told The Times. “One important approach is natural climate solutions — using natural landscapes to improve land storage in such a way to solve climate challenges through landscape. The Vineyard has lots of potential,” she said.
The data behind Woodwell’s come from a 2021 LiDAR flight over the Island, as well as measurements taken in the field. The light pulses sent by LiDAR, which stands for light detection and ranging, were used to create a three-dimensional map of the Island’s vegetation. Researchers also measured biomass, biodiversity and carbon dioxide in soil.
Sturdivant said that her team’s report will help land stewards make important decisions about how to best adapt to the many natural risks facing the Vineyard, and improve biodiversity.
She also said that looking at the differences in the types of vegetation on-Island has helped her understand the land use decisions made by past generations on the Vineyard.
“The takeaway is the balance the Island is able to achieve, and seeing how that has played out in those patterns,” she said.
Wow, that’s a lot of plant food.
Great work! Thank you!
Are private jet emissions at mv airport part of this study?
Ok– I hope they didn’t spend too much money
on this study. The climate deniers should have a field
day criticizing and laughing at this useless study.
Here, let me put out my personal theory about why this
study really happened. The “greens” have set a goal of
reducing our carbon footprint. So, we now have a baseline,
and all we have to do is plant some more shrubbery to absorb
some carbon. Problem solved, world saved. We can all feel good about
leaving our trucks running
while we go into the packy to get our Bud Lights and scratch tickets.
Near the Tower Hill cemetery in Edgartown they just cut down over 20 acres of forest that had probably not been touched for 100 years and now it’s just one big field how much carbon was released in this project?
The Vineyard could do so much more to reduce their carbon footprint by regulating the burning of wood to heat your home for example. We should also identify what the acceptable amount of carbon we can emit is. We have no set number by any government body as to where we need to be. In the meantime burn all the wood you want to heat your home but never ever let you car idle for a minute or two to keep you therapy dog comfortable while running into the packy store.
Carl, mangrove forests are excellent
at sequestering carbon.
Perhaps we can plant more mangrove
forests around the world.
https://ocean-service.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coastal-blue-carbon/
I idle my car, dont drink alcohol, but use my air conditioner and burn wood sometimes in my outdoor fire pit. I also research that warmer weather kills fewer people than does cold weather, agricultural improvements worldwide with warmer weather and I see what measures are taken to hold back erosion in Florida. I have seen what Netherlands did to mitigate most of its country being under sea level as an engineering miracle. I see that wind power is 32 to 47 percent efficient and solar panels are 18 to 25 percent efficient. I dont have an electric car because its to inconvenient while driving a great deal. I went once to Yakutsk, the coldest city on earth and they begged me for warmer weather with an average temperature of 18 degrees Fahrenheit. It is known as a ”prison without bars”. Too much hysteria on this subject.
Carl– I have on numerous occasions explained to you with scientific
proof that burning wood, especially wood that is waste wood is carbon
‘neutral. As I have said before, every single piece of wood that
went into any woodstove I had between 1977 and 2016 would have
decomposed by now, and released exactly the same amount of
carbon that was released when I burned it.
I don’t get why you keep harping on burning wood
for heat. Perhaps you know something I don’t. Ok — Put it
out there Carl.. Show me something different than what i think.
And —PLEASE– not just some typical right wing commentary
by some lying millionaire being paid off by big oil.
Facts about carbon– that’s what we are talking about, right ?
Please refer back to the days you thought a few volcanoes
were putting out more carbon than humans. You accepted that
opinion was wrong by orders of magnitude.
You can educate yourself about this issue, and accept reality.
You have done it before and you can do it again.
Here– let me show you again about the carbon cycle as it relates to trees.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/11/09/climate-curious-is-burning-wood-for-heat-carbon-neutral
Put something up here that is not right wing BS to counter my facts and my
argument that burning wood is pretty environmentally friendly.
And by the way, my wood stove is “regulated” and inspected.
It meets all EPA standards.
Maybe we should regulate oil furnaces.
Some might say this study is useless. Some might say commenting incessantly on this website is useless. Opinions vary. As does the MV Times’ curator(s) opinions on what is and what is not acceptable to post on their website. Who’s to say? All I know is I am for the expansion of knowledge and understanding. If this study contributes to that, then it’s not useless.