For decades, a dominant argument for protecting forests has focused on carbon. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, store it in wood and soils, and slow the accumulation of greenhouse gases. A new scientific review suggests this emphasis overlooks other ways forests shape climate and human well-being. Forests, it argues, are not only a mitigation tool for the future climate. They also help people adapt to climate change today, shaping temperature, water and human well-being in ways that are felt locally.

The paper, “More than mitigation: The role of forests in climate adaptation,” synthesizes research on how forests regulate climate through physical processes as much as chemical ones. At local scales, trees act as thermal buffers. Canopies shade the ground and drive evapotranspiration, a process that converts heat into water vapor. Across nearly one hundred field sites, daytime temperatures inside forests were on average about 4°C lower than in nearby open areas, while nighttime temperatures were slightly higher. The result is a narrowing of extremes: cooler afternoons, milder nights.

These effects intensify in hotter climates. Tropical forests show the strongest cooling, often exceeding 6°C relative to cleared land. Even urban trees produce measurable relief, lowering air temperatures by roughly 1.5–1.7°C on sunny days. For people exposed to heat stress, the difference between forest shade and bare ground is not marginal. Apparent temperatures during heat events have been recorded as 6–14.5°C lower inside forests than outside.