More than CO2: a broader paradigm for managing climate change and variability to avoid ecosystem collapse

▶ Climate change policies currently focus on reducing the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases, but pay limited attention to biospheric forcings and feedbacks in the climate system. ▶ We urge a virtual halt to deforestation and accelerated investment in strategic reforestation, especially in tropical and subtropical regions, supported by a comprehensive global forest monitoring program. ▶ Without these actions, the degradation of the Earth's ecosystems will continue, exacerbated by, and exacerbating, changes in temperature, precipitation and extreme weather events.