Study: Loss of European forest biomass accelerating, natural disturbances play growing role
A new study finds European forests have lost 6.5 billion metric tons of biomass since 1985, with losses from natural disturbances such as drought, bark beetles and storms up nearly 50 percent since 2018.
A study published recently in Nature Geoscience used satellite data to analyze the loss of aboveground biomass in European forests between 1985 and 2023. Biomass — wood, branches and leaves above ground — functions as a natural carbon store, absorbing carbon to help curb global warming while also supporting biodiversity. When biomass is destroyed, that carbon is released back into the atmosphere.
Tiit Maran, who holds a doctorate in biology, told Vikerraadio that the study found European forests lost 6.5 billion metric tons of biomass over nearly four decades. While 82 percent of that loss is still attributable to clear-cutting, researchers are increasingly concerned about natural disturbances — bark beetles, storms, drought and wildfires — which have driven a nearly 50 percent surge in biomass loss since 2018.
A turning point in 2018
The study points to 2018 as something of a turning point. A historic drought hit Europe from 2018 to 2022, weakening trees and leaving them vulnerable to the European spruce bark beetle. Areas of Central Europe with dense, old forests were hit especially hard, since damage to even small patches of forest can cause disproportionately large carbon losses.
Maran said that with two major factors now affecting this critical ecosystem simultaneously, the issue has taken on an entirely new dimension — forests can no longer be viewed only through the lens of biodiversity or economics, since the overall condition of forests across Europe will shape how the climate develops.
EU climate targets called into question
The European Union's climate targets rely heavily on the assumption that forests absorb more carbon than they release. When forests die, they shift from carbon sinks to carbon sources — a trend the study says runs counter to the EU's goal of boosting carbon sequestration by 2030, raising doubts about relying on forests as a dependable climate tool.
Maran argued that a different approach toward the environment and forests is needed, one that no longer treats them purely as an economic resource, since forests ultimately determine whether people can continue living anything resembling a normal existence. He said the changes have reached a point where they are beginning to affect the ecosystem itself, and that society and the economy need to adapt to new conditions since some changes can no longer be prevented.
