Deforestation and climate change

Deforestation is a primary contributor to climate change, and climate change affects forests. Land use changes, especially in the form of deforestation, are the second largest anthropogenic source of atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, after fossil fuel combustion. Greenhouse gases are emitted during combustion 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. , deforestation is responsible for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon emissions from tropical deforestation are accelerating. Growing forests are a carbon sink with additional potential to mitigate the effects of climate change. Some of the effects of climate change, such as more wildfires, insect outbreaks, invasive species, and storms are factors that increase deforestation. Deforestation comes in many forms: wildfire, agricultural clearcutting, livestock ranching, and logging for timber, among others. Forests cover 31% of the land area on Earth and annually 75,700 square kilometers (18.7 million acres) of the forest is lost. According to the World Resources Institute, there was a 12% increase in the loss of primary tropical forests from 2019 to 2020. Mass deforestation continues to threaten a variety of forests, their biodiversity, and the ecosystems they provide. The main area of concern of deforestation is in tropical rain forests since they are home to the majority of the planet's biodiversity. The loss of forests due to deforestation also has significant implications for global biodiversity, as it leads to the extinction of numerous plant and animal species that are unique to these ecosystems, further exacerbating the ongoing global biodiversity crisis. According to a pan-tropical study published in March 2023, tropical deforestation has led to a significant decrease in the amount of observed precipitation. By the year 2100, researchers anticipate that deforestation in the Congo will diminish regional precipitation levels by up to 8-10%.

Mapping drivers of tropical forest loss with satellite image time series and machine learning

Devis Tuia, Gaston Jean Lenczner, Jan Dirk Wegner, Jan Pisl, Marc Conrad Russwurm, Lloyd Haydn Hughes

The rates of tropical deforestation remain high, resulting in carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, and impacts on local communities. To design effective policies to tackle this, it is necessary to know what the drivers behind deforestation are. Since drive ...

Iop Publishing Ltd2024

Soil warming alters tree water use and canopy stomatal conductance in a mixed subtropical forest

Charlotte Grossiord, Christoph Bachofen

As air temperature and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) increase continuously, forests are losing more water through evapotranspiration, with large consequences for local and global hydrological cycles. In regions with high vegetation cover, soil warming can b ...

Elsevier2024

Classification of Tropical Deforestation Drivers with Machine Learning and Satellite Image Time Series

Devis Tuia, Jan Pisl, Marc Conrad Russwurm, Lloyd Haydn Hughes

Tropical deforestation is a major environmental problem with severe consequences such as carbon emissions or biodiversity loss. While much research focuses on monitoring and mapping deforestation, less attention is paid to understanding the various reasons ...

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.2023