US forest loss and wildfire exposure draw new satellite and study warnings

· Climate · United States

A new satellite tracking system finds the United States has been losing about 350,000 acres of forest land per year, a rate of roughly a football field every two minutes, equivalent to 2.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions through released stored carbon and lost future sequestration. Separately, a study published Tuesday in a Nature journal projects that the number of buildings across the contiguous United States threatened by wildfires could almost triple by 2060 if the country continues to ignore climate change, mismanage its forests and build homes in places where large fires naturally occur.

Why it matters：Quantifying forest loss and future fire exposure gives insurers, utilities and land planners concrete figures for climate risk now entering investment and siting decisions.

Key points

  • Annual US forest loss is put at about 350,000 acres.
  • That equals roughly 2.3 billion metric tons of CO2 through released and forgone carbon storage.
  • Wildfire-threatened buildings could nearly triple by 2060 under current trends.

Sources (original reporting)

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