What is Dynamic Modeling of GHG Impacts and Why Is It Important to Forest-Based Industries?

To date, the assessment of GHGs has largely been done using relatively simplistic methods that assume GHGs from all activities in a product’s life cycle are released at the same time and have a warming impact over 100 years. Most commonly, warming has been estimated using 100-year global warming potentials, or GWP100s. Researchers and policy makers, however, are beginning to understand that these simplistic assumptions can significantly affect the conclusions of climate change studies. This has led to broad interest in a more refined approach called “dynamic modeling” of GHG impacts. In this fact sheet, NCASI examines the potential implications of using a dynamic modeling approach to estimate the climate impact of forest products.