That was 6.5% of global CO2 emissions.35. International trade was responsible for around one-third (29%) of these emissions. Cuaresma, J. C., Danylo, O., Fritz, S., McCallum, I., Obersteiner, M., See, L., & Walsh, B. From the chart we see that this was driven by the continued expansion of land for agriculture. This is probably less than many people would expect. Not only would this be bad for people, it might also be bad for forests. Rudel, T. K., Coomes, O. T., Moran, E., Achard, F., Angelsen, A., Xu, J., & Lambin, E. (2005). And its not just in forests eitherits also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property. Before we look at trends in deforestation across the world specifically, its useful to understand the net change in forest cover. Land, 9(5), 129. The number of trees cut down in the Brazilian Amazon in January far exceeded deforestation for the same month last year, according to government satellite data. 95% of global deforestation occurs in the tropics. In just over 100 years the world lost as much forest as it had in the previous 9,000 years. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. Countries which lie above the grey line such as the United States, Finland, China restore more forest each year domestically than they import from elsewhere. Some of the worlds poorest countries are still in the pre-transition phase. Global deforestation reached its peak in the 1980s. What we know and dont know about Earths missing biodiversity. Pre-1961 land use is sourced from the work of Ellis et al. Deforestation is the complete removal of trees for the conversion of forest to another land use such as agriculture, mining, or towns and cities. Improvements in agricultural productivity tends to both drive and follow economic growth. I have reconstructed long-term data using various studies which Ive documented here. Given the current estimate of the total tree cover on the planet, that could equate to about 0.11% of trees being cut each year. This rapid swapping of green for gray is harmful to the people living in these spaces, and it sets cities up for long-term environmental decline, according to the scientists. Second, it makes clear how much deforestation accelerated over the last century. It results in a permanent conversion of forest into an alternative land use. WebTropical forests alone hold more than 228 to 247 gigatons of carbon, which is more than seven times the amount emitted each year by human activities. 95% of the worlds deforestation occurs in the tropics [we look at this breakdown again later]. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. From 1700 to 1850, 19 million hectares were being cleared every decade. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. The UK imported 34,000 hectares of deforestation but increased its domestic forests by only 19,000 hectares. It feeds into the popular idea that eating local is one of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. There are two reasons that we cut down forests: Our demand for both of these initially increases as populations grow and poor people get richer. Forest transitions: towards a global understanding of land use change. 71% of deforestation is for domestic production. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Forest Resources Assessment estimates global deforestation, averaged over the five-year period from 2015 to 2020 was 10 million hectares per year. For example, the US imported 64,000 hectares of deforested land, but increased its domestic forest area by 275,000 hectares. Most traded emissions are embedded in soy and palm oil exports to China and India; and beef, soy and palm oil exports to Europe. And its not just in forests eitherits also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property. Even with the most basic of lifestyles compared to todays standards, the per capita footprint of our ancestors would have been large. This rapid swapping of green for gray is harmful to the people living in these spaces, and it sets cities up for long-term environmental decline, according to the scientists. 2020. After seeing this data, people might argue that we should cut back on trade. In the map we see their assessment of each countrys stage in the transition. Given the current estimate of the total tree cover on the planet, that could equate to about 0.11% of trees being cut each year. The bar chart just below shows the earths surface cover just after the end of the last ice age.3 10,000 years ago 57% of the worlds habitable land was covered by forest. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. With increasing development, urbanization and access to other energy resources, Africa will shift from local, subsistence activities into commercial commodity production both in agricultural products and timber extraction. How many trees are cut down each year? Stage 1 The Pre-Transition phase is defined by having high levels of forest cover and no or only very slow losses over time. Countries that lie along this line would have a net-neutral impact on global forests: the area they are causing to deforestation overseas is exactly as large as the area they are regrowing at home. If we look at where countries are in their transition today we can understand where we expect to lose and gain forest in the coming decades. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. Latin America exports around 23% of its emissions; that means more than three-quarters are generated for products that are consumed within domestic markets. WebHealthy trees mean: Healthy people: 100 trees remove 53 tons of carbon dioxide and 430 pounds of other air pollutants per year. The story of both soy and palm oil are complex and its not obvious that eliminating these products will fix the problem. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. Urbanization, the other driver of deforestation accounts for just 0.6%. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? Pendrill, F., Persson, U. M., Godar, J., & Kastner, T. (2019). Since then, deforestation rates have steadily declined, to 78 million hectares in the 1990s; 52 million in the early 2000s; and 47 million in the last decade. Still, more than half of the worlds habitable land was forested. Tree density in primary forests varies from 50,000-100,000 trees per square km, so the math would put this number at 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees cut down each year. 14% of deforestation is driven by consumers in the worlds richest countries we import beef, vegetable oils, cocoa, coffee and paper that has been produced on deforested land.12. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. But distilling changes to this single metric tree or forest loss comes with its own issues. The rate of deforestation is declining, but we still lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per year between 2015-2020. To put this in perspective, that would be around one-sixth of the total carbon footprint of the average EU diet.36. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, Approximately 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are being cut each year according to a report referenced on the Rainforest Action Networks website (RAN) and other publications. This demand for resources and land is not always driven by domestic markets. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. High-income countries were the largest importers of deforestation, accounting for 40% of it. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. Healthy environment: One hundred mature trees catch about 139,000 gallons of rainwater per year. This is true for some problems, such as climate change. Carbon emissions from deforestation: are they driven by domestic demand or international trade? Africa is also an outlier as a result of how many people still rely on wood as their primary energy source. After long periods of forest clearance in the past, most of todays richest countries are increasing tree cover through afforestation. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings. Approximately 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are being cut each year according to a report referenced on the Rainforest Action Networks website (RAN) and other publications. The course and drivers of the forest transition: the case of France. Web42 million trees are cut down each day. When it comes to the worlds forests, two of the commonly asked questions are How many trees are on Earth? and How many trees are cut down each year? But we also need to know what products are driving this. 15 billion trees are cut down every year.19 The Global Forest Watch project using satellite imagery estimates that global tree loss in 2019 was 24 million hectares. The researchers found that 36 million trees are cut down in urban areas each year, and 167,000 acres of impervious areas (concrete, asphalt, etc.) How many trees does IKEA cut down a Rudel, T. K. (1998). Nature, 536(7615), 143. Lets take an example. Our crop yields improve and so we need less land for agriculture. Journal of Rural Studies, 15(1), 65-90.Mather, A. S., & Needle, C. L. (2000). There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. How many trees does IKEA cut down a Explore long-term changes in deforestation, and deforestation rates across the world today. How many trees are cut down each year? It breaks the change in forests into four stages, explained by two variables: the amount of forest cover a region has, and the annual change in cover (how quickly it is losing or gaining forest).15. Thats an area 1.5-times the size of the United States. How do these two measures compare? But not all of it is to produce products for local markets. Deforestation, reforestation, and development, Forest transitions: towards a global understanding of land use change, Economic development and forest cover: evidence from satellite data, Deforestation displaced: trade in forest-risk commodities and the prospects for a global forest transition, Classifying drivers of global forest loss, What we know and dont know about Earths missing biodiversity, Biodiversity: The ravages of guns, nets and bulldozers, Tropical forests and the changing earth system, Types and rates of forest disturbance in Brazilian Legal Amazon, 20002013, Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions, Environmental impacts of food consumption in Europe. Is there a forest transition? Why? 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. In a previous article I showed that the types of food you eat matter much more for your carbon footprint than where it comes from this is because transport usually makes up a small percentage of your foods emissions, even if it comes from the other side of the world. In Latin America and Asia the dominant driver of degradation was logging for products such as timber, paper and pulp this accounted for more than 70%. See the distribution of global forests and which countries have the most forest cover. In a related post we have combined this FAO data with global deforestation rates from Williams (2003) to document forest change over the last 300 years this gives us data on forest change from 1700 onwards. How many trees have been cut down? By Georgina Rannard. Half of global forest loss occurred between 8,000BC and 1900; the other half was lost in the last century alone. I have therefore excluded these categories so we can focus on how habitable land is used. 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