Data and code for: Nature-based climate solutions can help mitigate the radiative forcing that follows deforestation

Widespread expansion of agriculture and forestry has altered the surface
of the Earth, the composition of the atmosphere, and as a result, the
climate. Here we quantify the radiative forcing caused by the
deforestation of an ecoregion of the U.S. Upper Midwest and the adoption
of eight nature-based climate solutions. We combined forest inventory data
with over three decades of remote sensing and in situ data from a
replicated land use change experiment. Deforestation of the region caused
net global warming (1626 ± 44 µW m-2), mainly from the 76 % reduction of
ecosystem carbon stocks, but also from the 84 % reduction of the soil
methane sink and the 115 % increase in soil nitrous oxide emissions. The
associated albedo increase offset 24 % of the greenhouse gas induced
warming. For the adoption of nature-based climate solutions, we found that
conservation agriculture provided a modest -39 to -76 ± 31 µW m-2 of
climate mitigation, short/medium length forestry rotations provided more
at -296 to -881 ± 44 µW m-2, and natural forest regeneration provided the
most at -1555 ± 44 µW m-2. As the impacts of climate change on nature and
society intensify, consideration should be given to the climate
mitigation, habitat, and ecosystem services that nature-based climate
solutions can provide.