Map Projection

Interrupted Goode's Homolosine

Notes

Global carbon storage values include above- and below-ground vegetation carbon stores in Greenland and Antarctica, but do not include soil carbon stores in these regions because of inadequate data.

Map Description

This map shows the total carbon estimated to be stored in the live vegetation and soils of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems. The carbon store depicted in this map is 2,385 billion tons. The low-end estimate (not shown) is 1,752 billion tons. These results are consistent with those of other recent studies, such as that of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2000). The wide gap between the low and high estimates illustrates the major uncertainties that still exist. WRI’s findings indicate that forest ecosystems account for about 40 percent of the total carbon stored in terrestrial ecosystems (based on our high estimates of carbon storage). About 34 percent is stored in grasslands, and about 17 percent in agricultural lands. The highest quantities of stored carbon are located in the tropical and boreal forest regions. However, carbon in these two areas is concentrated in different places. In the tropics, more carbon is stored in vegetation than in soils while in the boreal region far more carbon is stored in the soils. Peatlands in the boreal region are especially important areas because of the large quantities of soil carbon stored per unit area. Grasslands generally store less carbon than forests on a carbon/unit area basis. However, their extensive area means that, in total, they are important carbon stores. Tropical (low latitude) grasslands store significantly more carbon than do temperate (mid latitude) forests, for example, and almost as much as tropical forests. These storage estimates are all critically dependent on area estimates for the ecosystems in question.