Relationship between deforestation and global warming
Deforestation in the tropics – given as the annual average between 2010 and 2014 – was responsible for 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. That was 6.5% of global CO2 emissions.
Deforestation is a primary contributor to climate change,[1][2] and climate change affects the health of forests.[3] Land use change, especially in the form of deforestation, is the second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from human activities, after the burning of fossil fuels.[4][5] Greenhouse gases are emitted from deforestation during the burning of forest biomass and decomposition of remaining plant material and soil carbon. Global models and national greenhouse gas inventories give similar results for deforestation emissions.[5] As of 2019[update], deforestation is responsible for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions.[6] Carbon emissions from tropical deforestation are accelerating.[7][8]
When forests grow they are a carbon sink and therefore have potential to mitigate the effects of climate change.Some of the effects of climate change, such as more wildfires,[9] invasive species, and more extreme weather events can lead to more forest loss.[10][11] The relationship between deforestation and climate change is one of a positive (amplifying) climate feedback.[12] The more trees that are removed equals larger effects of climate change which, in turn, results in the loss of more trees.[13]
Forests cover 31% of the land area on Earth. Every year, 75,700 square kilometers (18.7 million acres) of the forest is lost.[14] There was a 12% increase in the loss of primary tropical forests from 2019 to 2020.[15]
Deforestation has many causes and drivers. Examples include agricultural clearcutting, livestock grazing, logging for timber, and wildfires.
^Sutter, John D. (13 August 2015). "10 climate change villains". CNN. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
^Heidari, Hadi; Warziniack, Travis; Brown, Thomas C.; Arabi, Mazdak (February 2021). "Impacts of Climate Change on Hydroclimatic Conditions of U.S. National Forests and Grasslands". Forests. 12 (2): 139. doi:10.3390/f12020139.
^"Main sources of carbon dioxide emissions | CO2 Human Emissions". www.che-project.eu. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
^ abClimate Change and Land: Summary for Policymakers (PDF) (Report). IPCC. August 2019.
^"How the UK contributes to global deforestation". BBC News. 2020-08-26. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
^Feng, Yu; Zeng, Zhenzhong; Searchinger, Timothy D.; Ziegler, Alan D.; Wu, Jie; Wang, Dashan; He, Xinyue; Elsen, Paul R.; Ciais, Philippe; Xu, Rongrong; Guo, Zhilin (2022-02-28). "Doubling of annual forest carbon loss over the tropics during the early twenty-first century". Nature Sustainability. 5 (5): 444–451. Bibcode:2022NatSu...5..444F. doi:10.1038/s41893-022-00854-3. hdl:2346/92751. ISSN 2398-9629. S2CID 247160560.
^Greenfield, Patrick (2022-02-28). "Deforestation emissions far higher than previously thought, study finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
^Heidari, Hadi; Arabi, Mazdak; Warziniack, Travis (August 2021). "Effects of Climate Change on Natural-Caused Fire Activity in Western U.S. National Forests". Atmosphere. 12 (8): 981. Bibcode:2021Atmos..12..981H. doi:10.3390/atmos12080981.
^Seymour, Frances; Gibbs, David (2019-08-08). "Forests in the IPCC Special Report on Land Use: 7 Things to Know". World Resources Institute. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
^"U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | US EPA". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
^Bajželj, Bojana; Richards, Keith S. (2014). "The Positive Feedback Loop between the Impacts of Climate Change and Agricultural Expansion and Relocation". Land. 3 (3): 898–916. doi:10.3390/land3030898. ISSN 2073-445X.
^Allen, Craig D.; Macalady, Alison K.; Chenchouni, Haroun; Bachelet, Dominique; McDowell, Nate; Vennetier, Michel; Kitzberger, Thomas; Rigling, Andreas; Breshears, David D.; Hogg, E.H. (Ted); Gonzalez, Patrick; Fensham, Rod; Zhang, Zhen; Castro, Jorge; Demidova, Natalia (February 2010). "A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests". Forest Ecology and Management. 259 (4): 660–684. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2009.09.001. S2CID 4144174.
^"Deforestation and Forest Degradation". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
^Seymour, Frances (2021-03-31). "2021 Must Be a Turning Point for Forests. 2020 Data Shows Us Why". World Resources Institute.
and 28 Related for: Deforestation and climate change information
important for biodiversity and carbon storage. The direct cause of most deforestation is agriculture by far. More than 80% of deforestation was attributed to agriculture...
climatechange describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climatechange in...
impact of climatechange upon the terrestrial environment of Indonesia is varied. Indonesia has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world...
The effects of climatechange are another cause via the increased risk of wildfires (see deforestationandclimatechange). Deforestation results in habitat...
environmental changes are similar to those caused by the effects of global warming. Major land surface changes affecting climate include deforestation (especially...
and distribution of rainforest species. These changes exacerbate the effects of deforestationand land-use change, leading to biodiversity loss and affecting...
Conference, 67 ministers signed up to help achieve zero net deforestation by 2020. Due to deforestation the Amazon was a net emitter of greenhouse gas in the...
forests have also been affected by climatechange. The Kyoto Protocol includes an agreement to prevent deforestation, but does not stipulate actions to...
Land change science refers to the interdisciplinary study of changes in climate, land use, and land cover. Land change science specifically seeks to evaluate...
sparrows, pigeons and crows are becoming rarer due to deforestation. Due to deforestation, India is facing water problems in urban cities and villages. Environmental...
tropical rainforests continue to face significant threats from deforestationandclimatechange, highlighting the ongoing challenge of balancing conservation...
June 2023). "Climatechange: Deforestation surges despite pledges". BBC. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. "Amazon Deforestation Rate Escalates"...
short-term, as the rate of deforestation continued to increase. By 2012 Indonesia had surpassed the rate of deforestation in Brazil, and become the fastest forest...
Global climatechange has increased the occurrence of some infectious diseases. Infectious diseases whose transmission is impacted by climatechange include...
The scientific community has been investigating the causes of climatechange for decades. After thousands of studies, it came to a consensus, where it...
K. and Richardson, A. J. (2020) "Climate velocity reveals increasing exposure of deep-ocean biodiversity to future warming". Nature ClimateChange, pp...
popularized in the early 1990s as issues such as deforestationandclimatechange prompted both timber suppliers and consumers to turn to a more sustainable timber...
indoor air pollution, and contributes to global deforestationandclimatechange. Small-scale renewable energy technologies and distributed energy options...
production, and land use changes such as deforestation,: 10–11 with a significant supporting role from the other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous...
The 2021 United Nations ClimateChange Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations ClimateChange conference, held at the...
having been outspoken "about climatechange, pollution anddeforestation" for the "last 50 years." Various climatechange activism initiatives have taken...
related to agricultural use, deforestationandclimatechange. Causes include: Land clearance, such as clearcutting anddeforestation Agricultural depletion...
Climatechange is having major effects on the Chinese economy, society and the environment. China is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide, through an...
causes and underlying driving forces of deforestation in a given area or country. This concept, along with many other results of tropical deforestation from...
changes such as agriculture anddeforestation cause about 1/4th of climatechange. These changes impact how much CO2 is absorbed by plant matter and how...
Global Information