Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. Mapping tree density at a global scale. Thats a lot of trees! The amount of land per person that was needed to produce enough food was not small in fact, it was much larger than today. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 361(1465), 195-210. But by studying how forests have changed over time, theres good reason to think that a way forward is possible. But forest cover increases through reforestation. How much deforestation happens every day? Forests are mainly cut and burned to make space for local, subsistence agriculture or for fuelwood for energy. 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. 95% of the worlds deforestation occurs in the tropics [we look at this breakdown again later]. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. There is a geographical argument (why the tropics?) In 2012 the mid-year of this period global emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use change was 40.2 billion tonnes. Rural Sociology, 63(4), 533-552. 71% of this is driven by demand in domestic markets, and the remaining 29% for the production of products that are traded. 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. The Forest Transition therefore tends to follow a development pathway.16 As a country achieves economic growth it moves through each of the four stages. Environmental impacts of food consumption in Europe. The scale of deforestation today might give us little hope for protecting our diverse forests. The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. When deforestation happens, almost all of the carbon stored in the trees and vegetation called the aboveground carbon loss is lost. The default is shown for Brazil, but you can explore the data for a range of countries using the Change country button. We lost 150 million hectares an area half the size of India during that decade. 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. Many rich countries are driving deforestation in other parts of the world, but are regrowing forests domestically. After seeing this data, people might argue that we should cut back on trade. Scottish Geographical Journal, 120(1-2), 83-98. Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). Biodiversity: The ravages of guns, nets and bulldozers. 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. We see this in the chart. The net change in forest cover measures any gains in forest cover either through natural forest expansion or afforestation through tree-planting minus deforestation. Since year-to-year changes in forest cover can be volatile, the UN FAO provide this annual data averaged over five-year periods. In the chart we see how the cover of the earths surface has changed over the past 10,000 years. To put this in perspective, that would be around one-sixth of the total carbon footprint of the average EU diet.36. Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. At the end of this stage, countries are approaching the transition point. 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. Thats both an economic and environmental win. But distilling changes to this single metric tree or forest loss comes with its own issues. If we add 0.3 tonnes to this figure, deforestation would account for around one-sixth [0.3 / (1.5+0.3) * 100 = 17%].Notarnicola, B., Tassielli, G., Renzulli, P. A., Castellani, V., & Sala, S. (2017). But most emissions are driven by domestic markets this means policies in the major producer countries will be key to tackling this problem. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. On balance, they add to the global forest stock. How do these two measures compare? Why? 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. In the chart we see the comparison between the change in domestic forest area, and deforestation driven by imported goods.33 On the vertical axis we have the domestic change in forest area: this is shown only for countries where the forest area is increasing. This helps consumers understand what products they should be concerned about, but also allows us to target specific supply chains. Americans cut down 15,094,678 Christmas trees in 2017, according to the most recent year of data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? 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. You have permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. Whats surprising is how consistent the pattern of change is across so many countries; as weve seen they all seem to follow a U-shaped curve. The world has lost one-third of its forests, but an end of deforestation is possible. These are big numbers, and important ones to track: forest loss creates a number of negative impacts, ranging from carbon emissions to species extinctions and biodiversity loss. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, 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. We can calculate this increase as [(7.63 billion 3.09 billion) / 3.09 billion * 100 = 147%]. How many trees are cut down each year?. Tropical forests are often more productive than temperate forests, meaning they store more carbon. This diagram is adapted from the work of Hosonuma et al. We then get high-income countries share of deforestation as: [40% of the 29% that is traded], which is equal to 12%. Nature, 525(7568), 201-205. Then, using a physical trade model across 191 countries and around 400 food and forestry products, they could trace them through to where they are physically consumed, either as food or in industrial processes.Pendrill, F., Persson, U. M., Godar, J., Kastner, T., Moran, D., Schmidt, S., & Wood, R. (2019). We manage to capture some of these differences in carbon in our related article on deforestation emissions embedded in trade. 71% of deforestation is for domestic production. 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.) Still, more than half of the worlds habitable land was forested. The changes to the forest are often temporary and its expected that they will regrow. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. In the chart we see deforestation emissions per person, measured in tonnes of CO2 per year. and an argument for why deforestation is worse than degradation. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. It was a net importer. Increasing human dominance of tropical forests. This might paint a bleak picture for the future of the worlds forests: the United Nations projects that the global population will continue to grow, reaching 10.8 billion by 2100. 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. Some of the worlds poorest countries are still in the pre-transition phase. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 27(9), 501-510. The taller the bar, the larger the change in forest area. This is shortly after the end of the last great ice age, through to the present day.2. Hence, we should keep in mind that forest area is not the only aspect that matters where that forest is and how rich in life it is matters too. Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. But, understanding the role of deforestation in the products we buy is important. It doesnt capture trees that are cut down in planted forests; the land is still forested, its now just regrowing forest. Tropical forests are home to some of the richest and most diverse ecosystems on the planet. 95% of global deforestation occurs in the tropics. At the beginning of this phase, the forest area is at its lowest point. 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.) Our World In Data is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1186433). Stage 4 The Post-Transition phase is when countries have passed the transition point and are now gaining forest again. Today thats just 34%. 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 breakdown of forest loss globally, and by region, is shown in the chart.22. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. I have reconstructed long-term data using various studies which Ive documented here. Not all forest loss is equal: what is the difference between deforestation and forest degradation? They cut down their forests and replaced it with agricultural land long ago. 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. Cuaresma, J. C., Danylo, O., Fritz, S., McCallum, I., Obersteiner, M., See, L., & Walsh, B. They are also richer sites of biodiversity. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? Countries with a negative change (shown in red) are losing more than theyre able to restore. 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.) As we saw previously, this deforestation accounts for around one-quarter of global forest loss. The change is permanent. On the left-hand side we have the countries (grouped by region) where deforestation occurs, and on the right we have the countries and regions where these products are consumed. Countries below the line such as the UK and Germany are not growing forests fast enough to offset the deforestation theyre creating elsewhere. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of How many trees are cut down each year? (2017) estimate that the average EU diet, excluding deforestation, is responsible for 0.5 tonnes CO2 per person. In contrast, most forest degradation two-thirds of it occurs in temperate countries. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. They also contribute to global deforestation through the foods they import from poorer countries. Mather, A. S., Fairbairn, J., & Needle, C. L. (1999). As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. 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. For example, the average German generated half a tonne (510 kilograms) of CO2 per person from domestic and imported foods. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of Ellis, E. C., Beusen, A. H., & Goldewijk, K. K. (2020). The UK imported 34,000 hectares of deforestation but increased its domestic forests by only 19,000 hectares. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . Stage 3 The Late Transition phase is when deforestation rates start to slow down again. But there is good reason to make this our primary concern. Meanwhile, the global population increased by 147% from 3.1 to 7.6 billion.4 This means that agricultural land per person more than halved, from 1.45 to 0.63 hectares. The story of both soy and palm oil are complex and its not obvious that eliminating these products will fix the problem. 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. If we can identify the producer countries, importing countries, and specific products responsible, we can direct our efforts towards interventions that will really make a difference. 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. You will notice in the chart that this was not only expanding into previously forested land, but also other land uses such as wild grasslands and shrubbery. Tropical forests are also large carbon sinks, and can store a lot of carbon per unit area.26. Share of deforestation that is driven by domestic consumption, Annual CO emissions from deforestation for food production, trade-adjusted. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. The world has lost one-third of its forest an area twice the size of the United States. The problem is that it treats all forest loss as equal. Absolute estimates of forest cover from other sources may differ for this reason. 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. 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. (2020).References:FAO and UNEP. Not all forest is equal. Cutting them down disrupts or destroys established, species-rich ecosystems. Before we look at trends in deforestation across the world specifically, its useful to understand the net change in forest cover. That these countries have recently regained forests is also visible in the long-term forest trends above. Rome. How many trees have been cut down? 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. 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. Pre-1961 land use is sourced from the work of Ellis et al. 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. Global forest resources. Across temperate forests the world gained 6 million hectares in the last decade. Science, 361(6407), 1108-1111. The annual change is now positive. (2012).Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy, V., De Fries, R. S., Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., & Romijn, E. (2012). University of Chicago Press.FAO (2020). Its useful to make this distinction because as we will see where the world has lost forests has shifted. It might seem odd to argue that we should focus our efforts on tackling this quarter of forest loss (rather than the other 73%). Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. 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. Tropical forests, on aggregate, have also passed peak deforestation in the 1980s the longest of all bars but have not passed the transition to reforestation. 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. University of Chicago Press. The researchs results are This might put the responsibility for ending deforestation solely on tropical countries. That was 6.5% of global CO2 emissions.35. But we should keep these important aspects in mind when comparing forest losses and gains. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. This follows the classic forest transition model with development, which we look at in more detail in a related article. Which countries are gaining, and which are losing forest? From 1700 to 1850, 19 million hectares were being cleared every decade. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? 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. are added every year. On balance, it would still have a positive impact on the size of global forests; its net contribution would be increasing forest area by 25,000 hectares.32 However, this country might still be causing more damage than this for a couple of reasons. The fact that the per capita emissions after trade are very high means that a lot of their food products are consumed by people in Brazil and Indonesia. By Georgina Rannard. (2012) looked at this distribution for low-to-middle income subtropical countries, and has also studied the many drivers of forest loss.Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy, V., De Fries, R. S., Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., & Romijn, E. (2012). 95% of this occurs in the tropics. Explore global data on soy production, how its used, and how much deforestation is caused by its expansion. 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? 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. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. For example, Ellis et al. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. The rate of deforestation is declining, but we still lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per year between 2015-2020. To investigate this question, researchers Florence Pendrill et al. 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. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. 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. This demand for resources and land is not always driven by domestic markets. We see very clearly that the large Brazilian footprint is driven by its domestic demand for beef. Since three-quarters of tropical deforestation is driven by agriculture, thats a valid concern. As we explore in more detail in our related article, countries tend to follow a predictable development in forest cover, a U-shaped curve.9 They lose forests as populations grow and demand for agricultural land and fuel increases, but eventually they reach the so-called forest transition point where they begin to regrow more forests than they lose. Tropical forests and the changing earth system. (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. To make this distinction because as we saw previously, this deforestation for... To global deforestation occurs in the long-term forest trends above abundance from the work Hosonuma. Been large in deforestation across the world has lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per between! 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