Although the Adirondacks' six million acres constitute the largest intact forest in the Northeast, they cannot absorb enough carbon dioxide to offset the greenhouse gas emitted by the area's visitors and sparse population of 130,000 full-time residents, the Times-Union reported.

Home heating is responsible for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in the Adirondacks.Each year, the forests absorb about 600,000 tons of carbon, which is less than a third of what's emitted by human activity in the Adirondack Park alone and a fraction of the 200 million tons emitted statewide, according to a recent audit. Ecology and Environment, a consulting firm based in Erie County, with guidance from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, conducted the evaluation, which resulted from a November climate change conference at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake.

Home heating is the single largest contributor to emissions in the Adirondacks, especially because of severe winters and older, energy-inefficient homes, said Kate Fish, project director of ADKCAP, a consortium of government, academic, civic and not-for-profit groups that formed after the conference.