Nature - Carbon From Tropical Deforestation Far Higher Than Prior Estimates; It Doubled In 20 Years
Carbon emissions from tropical deforestation this century are far higher than previously thought, doubling in just two decades and continuing to accelerate, according to a study. The worlds forests form an enormous carbon store, holding an estimated 861 gigatons of carbon equivalent to nearly a centurys worth of annual fossil fuel emissions at the current rate. When trees are cut down, they release the carbon they store into the atmosphere. Since 2000, the world has lost about 10% of its tree cover, becoming a major driver of global heating.
Yet, despite being the second largest human source of greenhouse gases after fossil fuels, the carbon accounting behind emissions from land still contains significant uncertainties, often relying on limited data that poses difficulties for researchers tracking progress towards meeting the goals of the Paris agreement.
A study published on Monday in Nature Sustainability shows that carbon loss from tropical deforestation in the last two decades has doubled and continues to rise, driven largely by the expansion of agricultural frontiers. The findings contrast with previous assessments, such as the Global Carbon Budget 2021, which had suggested a slight decline in carbon loss from deforestation.
EDIT
The increase took place despite commitments to slow deforestation, such as the New York Declaration on Forests in 2014, which aimed to halve deforestation rates by 2020. At Cop26 in Glasgow, a coalition of 142 countries accounting for more than 90% of the worlds forests committed to halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030. The standard methods used by the IPCC are not spotting some of the things weve seen in this paper, such as small-scale deforestation and the movement of land-clearing into mountains. They arent really capturing the trend that weve seen in the last two decades, Spracklen added.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/28/deforestation-emissions-far-higher-than-previously-thought-study-finds-aoe