Greenhouse gas emissions and removals from forest land, woodlands, and urban trees in the United States, 1990-2019

Abstract

As a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United States has reported an economy-wide inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals since the mid-1990s (U.S. EPA 2021). Forest land, harvested wood products (HWP), woodlands, and urban trees within the land sector collectively represent the largest net carbon (C) sink in the United States, offsetting more than 11 percent of total GHG emissions in 2019 (U.S. EPA 2021). Estimates of GHG emissions and removals are compiled by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service researchers and are based primarily on National Forest Inventory (NFI) data collected and maintained by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program within the Forest Service. This report provides an overview of the status and trends of GHG emissions and removals from forest land, woodlands in the grassland category, HWP, and urban trees in settlements in the United States from 1990 to 2019. The estimates for the United States summarized here are based on the compilation reported in the