More than mitigation: The role of forests in climate adaptation

Abstract

Forests regulate global and local climates in ways that impact human well-being. In this Review, we discuss the scale-dependent mechanisms through which forests regulate climate, highlighting their contributions to global mitigation and local adaptation. Locally, forests tend to buffer temperatures, cooling in warm conditions and warming in cold ones. In regions that naturally support dense forest cover, trees contribute to global cooling primarily through carbon uptake, with some offsetting from albedo-related warming. By enhancing rainfall interception, evapotranspiration, and cloud formation, forests also influence the hydrological cycle, lowering flood risks in humid regions but often reducing downstream water availability, especially in drier climates. Collectively, these interacting processes show that the greatest climate benefits occur where forests are native, highlighting their importance for both climate adaptation and mitigation.

Published in

Science
2026, volume: 391, number: 6786, pages: 669-678
Publisher: AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE

SLU Authors

• Kirchner, James

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich)
  • Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL

UKÄ Subject classification

Climate Science
Forest Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ads4361

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/146302