Lets now focus on the consumers of products driving deforestation. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. Our World In Data is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1186433). Environmental Research Letters, 14(5), 055003. In the tropics, some forestry production can be classified as deforestation when primary rainforests are cut down to make room for managed tree plantations.21. The 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. Thats a lot of trees! Forest Transitions: why do we lose then regain forests? Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. The researchs results are The relationships of population and forest trends. The turn of the 20th century is when global forest loss reached the halfway point: half of total forest loss occurred from 8,000BC to 1900; the other half occurred in the last century alone. Although there is some year-to-year variability [you can explore the data use the timeline on the bottom of the chart from 2005 to 2013] we see a reasonably consistent divide: most countries across Europe and North America are net importers of deforestation i.e. When in history did we lose it? This is very close to our estimate of a one-third loss. A future with more people and more forest is possible. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. But we should keep these important aspects in mind when comparing forest losses and gains. This highlights an important point: less than 20% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to clean fuels for cooking, meaning they still rely on wood and charcoal. Thats around half the size of Germany. The consumption choices of people in these countries cause deforestation elsewhere in the world. We need to pass the transition point as soon as possible, while minimising the amount of forest we lose along the way. 71% of this is driven by demand in domestic markets, and the remaining 29% for the production of products that are traded. For the past 30 years, temperate regions have seen a continued increase in forest cover through afforestation: you see this as the bars are now positive (pointing upwards). 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. On balance, they add to the global forest stock. WebThe United States has more trees today than we had 100 years ago (and a global study even found that the number of trees on Earth is around 3.04 trillion, a much higher number than previously believed.) estimate a 35% loss of global forest cover since 10,000. Thats like losing an area the size of Portugal every two years. Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). That is why we should be focusing on tropical deforestation. How much deforestation happens every day? What activities are driving this? Ellis, E. C., Beusen, A. H., & Goldewijk, K. K. (2020). [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. Biodiversity: The ravages of guns, nets and bulldozers. Nature Sustainability, 1-9. Across sub-tropical countries we have a mix: many upper-middle income countries are now in the late transition phase. Without reliable metrics that capture all of these differences, we will have to stick with total changes in forest area for now. Most emissions 71% came from foods consumed in the country that they were produced. Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. Data on the annual change in domestic forests is sourced from the UN FAOs Forest Resources Assessment. Thats an area 1.5-times the size of the United States. Forestry Commission. Lets take a look at which countries are causing deforestation overseas and the size of this impact. And to identify where deforestation is occurring; perhaps as important, show where forest loss is not deforestation. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. This means interventions at the national-level will be key: this can include a range of solutions including policies such as Brazils soy moratorium, the REDD+ programme to compensate for the opportunity costs of preserving these forests, and improvements in agricultural productivity so countries can continue to produce more food on less land. 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. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. National Inventory of Woodland and Trees, England (2001). Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. The world has lost one-third of its forests, but an end of deforestation is possible. Since year-to-year changes in forest cover can be volatile, the UN FAO provide this annual data averaged over five-year periods. We lost 150 million hectares an area half the size of India during that decade. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? In most rich countries, across Europe, North America and East Asia, forest cover is increasing, whilst in many low-to-middle income countries its decreasing. There is little forest left. 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. This is shortly after the end of the last great ice age, through to the present day.2. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. Tropical forests and the changing earth system. Rich countries such as the USA, France and the United Kingdom have had a long history of deforestation but are now passed the transition point. Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. How many trees are chopped down for Christmas? https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8753en. The world has lost one-third of its forest an area twice the size of the United States. This shifting agriculture category can be difficult to allocate between deforestation and degradation: it often requires close monitoring over time to understand how permanent these agricultural practices are. Stage 4 The Post-Transition phase is when countries have passed the transition point and are now gaining forest again. For example, after we adjust for all the goods that the UK imports and exports, it caused more deforestation elsewhere than it did domestically. Increasing human dominance of tropical forests. How many trees does IKEA cut down a Today thats just 34%. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. 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. It might seem odd to argue that we should focus our efforts on tackling this quarter of forest loss (rather than the other 73%). How many trees have been cut down? Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. 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.) Tropical forests are often more productive than temperate forests, meaning they store more carbon. (2010) looked at the primary drivers of deforestation and degradation across tropical and subtropical countries specifically.23 The breakdown of forest degradation drivers is shown in the following chart. Some of the worlds poorest countries are still in the pre-transition phase. The net change in forest cover measures any gains in forest cover either through natural forest expansion or afforestation through tree-planting minus deforestation. But this is no longer the case: forest loss across North America and Europe is now the result of harvesting forestry products from tree plantations, or tree loss in wildfires. When we think of the growing pressures on land from modern populations we often picture sprawling megacities. An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. are added every year. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. 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. 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. Less than one-third (29%) is for the production of goods that are traded. I have therefore excluded these categories so we can focus on how habitable land is used. They cut down their forests and replaced it with agricultural land long ago. The changes to the forest are often temporary and its expected that they will regrow. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. The 11-month balance shows that 1,539,970 trees were cut down each day, which means 1,059 trees per minute or almost 18 trees per second. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. They also contribute to global deforestation through the foods they import from poorer countries. Environmental impacts of food consumption in Europe. Improvements in crop yields mean the per capita demand for agricultural land continues to fall. By Georgina Rannard. Humanitys biggest footprint is due to what we eat, not where we live. 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. It feeds into the popular idea that eating local is one of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint. What we know and dont know about Earths missing biodiversity. 38. An area the size of the United States. Lets start at the top. But it was then that England reached its transition point and since then, forests have doubled in size. Forest loss measures the net change in forest cover: the loss in forests due to deforestation plus any expansion of forest through afforestation.6. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. There is a marked divide in the state of the worlds forests. Cuaresma, J. C., Danylo, O., Fritz, S., McCallum, I., Obersteiner, M., See, L., & Walsh, B. The definition of forest can vary depending on aspects such as tree density and height. This often comes at the cost of forests. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. Shifting agriculture is usually classified as degradation because the land is often abandoned and the forests regrow naturally. Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). Rudel, T. K., Coomes, O. T., Moran, E., Achard, F., Angelsen, A., Xu, J., & Lambin, E. (2005). 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. This increase was mostly driven by tropical deforestation as countries across Asia and Latin America followed the path of Europe and North America. But there is good reason to make this our primary concern. The trees are not expected to regrow. Many farmers rely on international buyers to earn a living and improve their livelihoods. Deforesting the earth: from prehistory to global crisis. The amount of land per person that was needed to produce enough food was not small in fact, it was much larger than today. And, we might place more value on preserving primary, native forests that havent yet been deforested over regrowing forests that have lost their previous ecosystems. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. 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