Czech researchers have joined an international team proposing a novel approach to climate mitigation: harvesting parts of northern forests and transporting the wood via rivers to the Arctic Ocean, where it could lock carbon away for thousands of years. The plan aims to remove roughly one gigaton of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to about a tenth of global yearly emissions.
The approach could supplement existing efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions by providing an alternative carbon removal method. By using a process that already occurs naturally—fallen trees drifting into oceans—scientists hope to expand carbon storage without creating entirely artificial infrastructure.
The researchers focus on coniferous forests in Siberia and North America, including the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Yukon, and Mackenzie river basins. These forests collectively store an estimated 100 gigatons of carbon. Harvesting just 1 percent of this area, around 180,000 square kilometers, and channeling the wood to the Arctic could capture one gigaton of carbon dioxide per year.
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