how many trees are cut down each year
Help us do this work by making a donation. 71% of deforestation is for domestic production. But, understanding the role of deforestation in the products we buy is important. Web42 million trees are cut down each day. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. 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.) The change is temporary. As we will see later, this is dominated by palm oil exports to Europe, China, India, North America and the Middle East. In the coming decades this is where we might expect to see the most rapid loss of forests unless these countries take action to prevent it, and the world supports them in the goal. The average across the EU was 0.3 tonnes CO2 per person. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. The relationships of population and forest trends. They first lose lots of forest, but reach a turning point and begin to regain it again. Scottish Geographical Journal, 120(1-2), 83-98. We know where deforestation emissions are occurring, and where this demand is coming from. 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. Since year-to-year changes in forest cover can be volatile, the UN FAO provide this annual data averaged over five-year periods. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. Increasing human dominance of tropical forests. University of Chicago Press.FAO (2020). A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. 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. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. Some countries within this group are still far behind peak deforestation: without concerted effort to protect these forests it could be many decades before forests in those countries approach the transition point [as we show in a related post].10. Environmental Research Letters, 14(5), 055003. Note that this only measures the emissions from tropical deforestation it doesnt include any other emissions from agricultural production, such as methane from livestock, or rice, or the use of fertilizers. Loss of Biodiversity: Forests are the only liveable habitat for a variety of species around the globe many of which have not even have been discovered. The researchs results are For this reason, data sources including the UN Food and Agriculture Organization tend to aggregate annual losses as the average over five-year or decadal periods. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. Carbon emissions from deforestation: are they driven by domestic demand or international trade? Williams, M. (2003). Global Environmental Change, 15(1), 23-31. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Since agriculture is responsible for 60 to 80% of it, what we eat, where its sourced from, and how it is produced is our strongest lever to bring deforestation to an end. 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. Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. Forest degradation measures a thinning of the canopy a reduction in the density of trees in the area but without a change in land use. Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. When we cut down primary rainforest we are transforming this ecosystem forever. Many rich countries are driving deforestation in other parts of the world, but are regrowing forests domestically. An area the size of the United States. Even with the most basic of lifestyles compared to todays standards, the per capita footprint of our ancestors would have been large. Geographical Journal, 166(1), 2-13. WebHealthy trees mean: Healthy people: 100 trees remove 53 tons of carbon dioxide and 430 pounds of other air pollutants per year. The paths between these end boxes indicate where emissions are being traded the wider the bar, the more emissions are embedded in these products. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions. Improvements in agricultural productivity tends to both drive and follow economic growth. Global Environmental Change, 56, 1-10. As of 2020, the UN estimates the planet is losing over 7,000,000 hectares per year to deforestation.27Between 1990 and 2015, the world lost 129 million hectares of forest an area about the size of South Africa.11 Natural forests lost by continent9include: Africa 3.2 million hectares Whether we look at the distribution of endemic mammal species, bird species, or amphibian species, the map is the same: subtropical countries are packed with unique wildlife. And with the growth of technological innovations such as lab-grown meat and substitute products, there is the real possibility that we can continue to enjoy meat or meat-like foods while freeing up the massive amounts of land we use to raise livestock. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. 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. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? Still, more than half of the worlds habitable land was forested. Most deforestation occurs for the production of goods that are consumed within domestic markets. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. The world has lost one-third of its forest an area twice the size of the United States. A note on UN FAO forestry data Data on net forest change, afforestation and deforestation is sourced from the UN Food and Agriculture Organizations Forest Resources Assessment. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of Today, only 4 billion hectares are left. The breakdown of deforestation by region is shown in the chart. For example, the US imported 64,000 hectares of deforested land, but increased its domestic forest area by 275,000 hectares. To put this in perspective, that would be around one-sixth of the total carbon footprint of the average EU diet.36. This is calculated by taking each countrys imported deforestation and subtracting its exported deforestation. Tyukavina, A., Hansen, M. C., Potapov, P. V., Stehman, S. V., Smith-Rodriguez, K., Okpa, C., & Aguilar, R. (2017). All other material, including data produced by third parties and made available by Our World in Data, is subject to the license terms from the original third-party authors. (2019) quantified the deforestation embedded in traded goods between countries.30 They did this by calculating the amount of deforestation associated with specific food and forestry products, and combining it with a trade model. The course and drivers of the forest transition: the case of France. Before we look at trends in deforestation across the world specifically, its useful to understand the net change in forest cover. I have therefore excluded these categories so we can focus on how habitable land is used. The researchs results are Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. But there is good reason to make this our primary concern. In a related article we look in much more detail at what agricultural products, and which countries are driving this. Estimates vary, but on average only 10-20% of carbon is lost during logging, and 10-30% from fires.27 In a study of logging practices in the Amazon and Congo, forests retained 76% of their carbon stocks shortly after logging.28 Logged forests recover their carbon over time, as long as the land is not converted to other uses (which is what happens in the case of deforestation). The UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. Firstly, international trade does play a role in deforestation its responsible for almost one-third of emissions. The world has lost one-third of its forests, but an end of deforestation is possible. This was first coined by Alexander Mather in the 1990s.Mather, A. S. (1990). How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . Most of todays richest countries all of Europe, North America, Japan, South Korea have passed the turning point and are now regaining forest. Brazil and Indonesia alone account for almost half. 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. This might put the responsibility for ending deforestation solely on tropical countries. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. The rate of deforestation is declining, but we still lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per year between 2015-2020. Not all forest loss is equal: what is the difference between deforestation and forest degradation? Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020: Main report. But by studying how forests have changed over time, theres good reason to think that a way forward is possible. Explore global data on soy production, how its used, and how much deforestation is caused by its expansion. The same is true of the United States; back in 1630 46% of the area of todays USA was covered by forest. (2017) estimate that the average EU diet, excluding deforestation, is responsible for 0.5 tonnes CO2 per person. 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. Sometimes these restoration programmes pale in comparison to the deforestation theyre driving elsewhere. 432). We should not only look at where these foods are produced, but also where the consumer demand is coming from. 79% of exported deforestation ended up in those countries that had stopped losing domestic forests. Moving into the 20th century there was a stepwise change in demand for agricultural land and energy from wood. In the figure we see visual examples from the study of forest loss classification by Philip Curtis et al. Thats a lot of trees! The world loses 5 million hectares of forest to deforestation each year. At this stage, countries are still losing forest each year but at a lower rate than before. This is probably less than many people would expect. International trade was responsible for around one-third (29%) of these emissions. Not all forest is equal. Second, it makes clear how much deforestation accelerated over the last century. Its State of the Worlds Forests report provides estimates of global forest cover today, and rates of change over previous decades. It might seem odd to argue that we should focus our efforts on tackling this quarter of forest loss (rather than the other 73%). In the chart we see deforestation emissions per person, measured in tonnes of CO2 per year. How Many Acres of Trees Are Cut Down Each Year? That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. If we want to end deforestation we need to understand where and why its happening; where countries are within their transition; and what can be done to accelerate their progress through it. 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. How many trees have been cut down? The biodiversity of managed tree plantations which are periodically cut, regrown, cut again, then regrown is not the same. In contrast, most forest degradation two-thirds of it occurs in temperate countries. This helps consumers understand what products they should be concerned about, but also allows us to target specific supply chains. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. Maxwell, S. L., Fuller, R. A., Brooks, T. M., & Watson, J. E. (2016). The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. Scheffers, B. R., Joppa, L. N., Pimm, S. L., & Laurance, W. F. (2012). Forestry Commission. Lets start at the top. Globally we deforest around ten million hectares of forest every year.11 Thats an area the size of Portugal every year. It assumes the impact of clearing primary rainforest in the Amazon to produce soybeans is the same as logging planted forests in the UK. As we will see later, this would be a distraction from our primary concern: ending tropical deforestation. Bringing all of these elements together, we can focus on a few points that should help us prioritise our efforts to end deforestation. FAO. How many trees are cut down each year? From this understanding we can define five reasons why we lose forests: Thanks to satellite imagery, we can get a birds-eye view of what these drivers look like from above. High-income countries were the largest importers of deforestation, accounting for 40% of it. Countries below the line such as the UK and Germany are not growing forests fast enough to offset the deforestation theyre creating elsewhere. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. 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. Deforestation is the complete removal of trees for the conversion of forest to another land use such as agriculture, mining, or towns and cities. It was predominantly temperate forests that were being lost at this time. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? The diet of the average Brazilian creates 2.7 tonnes of CO2 from deforestation alone. Forestry production and wildfires usually result in forest degradation the forest experiences short-term disturbance but if left alone is likely to regrow. Available here. Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. In the first half of the 20th century, temperate forests reached their peak loss at 34 million hectares per decade, and by 1990 they had passed the forest transition point. Explore long-term changes in deforestation, and deforestation rates across the world today. 27% of forest loss results from commodity-driven deforestation cutting down forests to grow crops such as soy, palm oil, cocoa, to raise livestock on pasture, and mining operations. Lets take a look at which countries are causing deforestation overseas and the size of this impact. The United Nations, as well as experts at the World Wildlife Fund and Global Forest Watch, found that one million animals are in danger of extinction as a result of how much deforestation has occurred. From the chart we see that this was driven by the continued expansion of land for agriculture. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. 38. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? Thats like losing an area the size of Portugal every two years. The rate of forest loss changed a lot. By Georgina Rannard. But a small global population overall meant there was little pressure on forests to make space for land to grow food, and as wood for energy. It provides long-term estimates on forest cover in 10,000 and 5,000 years BP. For the last two centuries forests have been growing and are almost back to where they were 1000 years ago.13. Since there is often year-to-year variability in deforestation or reforestation rates, this is shown as the five-year average. Americans cut down 15,094,678 Christmas trees in 2017, according to the most recent year of data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. Philipp Curtis and colleagues make this point clear. How much deforestation happens every day? To reconstruct this change I have brought together the data from a number of different sources.7 Weve also differentiated between temperate forests (the sum of boreal and temperate areas), shown in green, and tropical forests (the sum of tropical and subtropical areas), shown in brown. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. Africa is also an outlier as a result of how many people still rely on wood as their primary energy source. Over the decade since 2010, the net loss in forests globally was 4.7 million hectares per year.1 However, deforestation rates were much significantly higher. Some of the worlds poorest countries are still in the pre-transition phase. We need more fuelwood to cook, more houses to live in, and importantly, more food to eat. 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. Nearly half (47%) of France was forested 1000 years ago; today thats just under one-third (31.4%). But forest cover increases through reforestation. How much deforestation happens every day? Imported emissions are also high for Taiwan, Belgium and the Netherlands at around one tonne. Improvements in crop yields mean the per capita demand for agricultural land continues to fall. Across temperate forests the world gained 6 million hectares in the last decade. 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. Please consult our full legal disclaimer. The taller the bar, the larger the change in forest area. Data from 1990 onwards is sourced from the UNs 2020 Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020.References:Williams, M. (2003). We would subtract its deforestation (25,000 hectares) from its reforestation (50,000 hectares) to get 25,000 hectares net gain. In a study published in Global Environmental Change, Florence Pendrill and colleagues investigated where tropical deforestation was occurring; what products were driving this; and, using global trade models, they traced where these products were going in international supply chains.34, They found that tropical deforestation given as the annual average between 2010 and 2014 was responsible for 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. Deforestation displaced: trade in forest-risk commodities and the prospects for a global forest transition. From 1850 to 1920, losses were around 50% higher at 30 million hectares per decade thats like losing a forested area the size of Italy every 10 years. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. Countries may lose some forest each year, but this is at a very slow rate. 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