how many trees are cut down each year

The definition of forest can vary depending on aspects such as tree density and height. An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation drivers in developing countries. The change is permanent. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. 40% of traded deforestation ends up in high-income countries, meaning they are responsible for 12% of deforestation.29. Population growth meant that todays rich countries across Europe and North America needed more and more resources such as land for agriculture, wood for energy, and for construction.8. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. They should keep their domestic reforestation targets in perspective with their net impact on global forests. 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. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. What explains this? Mapping tree density at a global scale. FAO. Pre-1961 land use is sourced from the work of Ellis et al. International trade is important for socioeconomic development. 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. 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. Forests are mainly cut and burned to make space for local, subsistence agriculture or for fuelwood for energy. Available here. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. At their Global Forest Watch platform they were already presenting maps of forest loss across the world. As we will see later, this would be a distraction from our primary concern: ending tropical deforestation. Luxembourg has the largest footprint at nearly three tonnes per person. 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. 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. Weve seen the five key drivers of forest loss. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Nearly half (47%) of France was forested 1000 years ago; today thats just under one-third (31.4%). The annual change is now positive. Rather than looking at total figures by country [if youre interested, we have mapped them here] we have calculated the per capita footprint. Since 1961, the amount of land we use for agriculture increased by only 7%. The first step in doing this is for rich countries to monitor their deforestation impacts overseas more closely. The world loses almost six million hectares of forest each year to deforestation. Williams, M. (2003). Thats an area 1.5-times the size of the United States. The world passed peaked deforestation in the 1980s and it has been on the decline since then we take a look at rates of forest loss since 1700 in our follow-up post. (2012) gathered this data from a range of sources including country submissions as part of their REDD+ readiness activities, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) country profiles, UNFCCC national communications and scientific studies. But, the fact that forest transitions are possible should give us confidence that a positive future is possible. Web3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down per year. This map shows the net change in forest cover across the world. Hosonuma et al. Deforestation is the complete removal of trees for the conversion of forest to another land use such as agriculture, mining, or towns and cities. From the chart we see that this was driven by the continued expansion of land for agriculture. You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. 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. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8753en. The remaining 73% came from the three drivers of forest degradation: logging of forestry products from plantations (26%); shifting, local agriculture (24%); and wildfires (23%). Urbanization, the other driver of deforestation accounts for just 0.6%. 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. There is little forest left. Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. Another way that richer countries can contribute is by investing in technologies such as improved seed varieties, fertilizers and agricultural practices that allow farmers to increase yields. The amount of land per person that was needed to produce enough food was not small in fact, it was much larger than today. Sometimes these restoration programmes pale in comparison to the deforestation theyre driving elsewhere. 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.) Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. But, overall, oilseeds and beef tend to top the list for most countries. As I mentioned earlier, 14% of deforestation today is driven by consumers in rich countries. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. Thats more than the countrys CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, which are around 2.2 tonnes per person. When we think of the growing pressures on land from modern populations we often picture sprawling megacities. Not only would this be bad for people, it might also be bad for forests. Scottish Geographical Journal, 120(1-2), 83-98. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. For the last two centuries forests have been growing and are almost back to where they were 1000 years ago.13. When we treat these impacts equally we make it difficult to prioritize our efforts in the fight against deforestation. It was predominantly temperate forests that were being lost at this time. Global forest resources. We see very clearly that the large Brazilian footprint is driven by its domestic demand for beef. The paths between these end boxes indicate where emissions are being traded the wider the bar, the more emissions are embedded in these products. As we saw previously, this deforestation accounts for around one-quarter of global forest loss. Brazil and Indonesia alone account for almost half. The story of both soy and palm oil are complex and its not obvious that eliminating these products will fix the problem. 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. The problem is that it treats all forest loss as equal. 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. By 1900, there were 1.65 billion people in the world (five times fewer than we have today) but for most of the previous period, humans were deforesting the world with only tens or hundreds of millions. Our World In Data is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1186433). But, it would be wrong to think that the only impact rich countries have on global forests is through changes in their domestic forests. It was a net importer. Today, only 4 billion hectares are left. England is similar: in the late 11th century, 15% of the country was forested, and over the following centuries two-thirds were cut down. They are also richer sites of biodiversity. The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. Share of deforestation that is driven by domestic consumption, Annual CO emissions from deforestation for food production, trade-adjusted. At this stage, countries are still losing forest each year but at a lower rate than before. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9825en. All the software and code that we write is open source and made available via GitHub under the permissive MIT license. 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. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. 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.) They also contribute to global deforestation through the foods they import from poorer countries. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. Across sub-tropical countries we have a mix: many upper-middle income countries are now in the late transition phase. 2020. The grey line marks where the area of domestic regrowth of forests is exactly equal to imported deforestation. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, After seeing this data, people might argue that we should cut back on trade. We manage to capture some of these differences in carbon in our related article on deforestation emissions embedded in trade. If we sum countries imported deforestation by World Bank income group, we find that high-income countries were responsible for 40% of imported deforestation; upper-middle income for 25%; lower-middle income for 20%; and low income for 5%.We then get high-income countries share of deforestation as: [40% of the 29% that is traded], which is equal to 12%. High-income countries were the largest importers of deforestation, accounting for 40% of it. 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. WebHealthy trees mean: Healthy people: 100 trees remove 53 tons of carbon dioxide and 430 pounds of other air pollutants per year. Since there is often year-to-year variability in deforestation or reforestation rates, this is shown as the five-year average. 95% of the worlds deforestation occurs in the tropics [we look at this breakdown again later]. That was 6.5% of global CO2 emissions.35. Less than one-third (29%) is for the production of goods that are traded. But the solution is not so simple. Tropical forests are often more productive than temperate forests, meaning they store more carbon. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. What we know and dont know about Earths missing biodiversity. 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. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. In just over 100 years the world lost as much forest as it had in the previous 9,000 years. This often comes at the cost of forests. If poorer countries are cutting down forests to make food for rich consumers, then we should just stop trading these goods. Stage 3 The Late Transition phase is when deforestation rates start to slow down again. More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. Most emissions 71% came from foods consumed in the country that they were produced. Just over one-quarter of global forest loss is driven by deforestation. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. 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 massive differences in how important each driver is across the world. Across temperate forests the world gained 6 million hectares in the last decade. After we adjust for imports and exports, how much CO2 from deforestation is each country responsible for? Nearly all 95% of this deforestation occurs in the tropics. Countries may lose some forest each year, but this is at a very slow rate. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. The United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. 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. Environmental Research Letters, 14(5), 055003. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. Its useful to make this distinction because as we will see where the world has lost forests has shifted. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of In a previous post we looked at this change in global forests over the long-run. This might put the responsibility for ending deforestation solely on tropical countries. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. Nature Sustainability, 1-9. Tropical forests and the changing earth system. The history of deforestation is a tragic one, in which we not only lost these wild and beautiful landscapes but also the wildlife within them. The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. 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. The rate of deforestation is declining, but we still lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per year between 2015-2020. All of our charts can be embedded in any site. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? But forest cover increases through reforestation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 361(1465), 195-210. Thats like losing an area the size of Portugal every two years. (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. This is shortly after the end of the last great ice age, through to the present day.2. (2020). Most of our future deforestation is going to come from countries in the pre- or early-transition phase. University of Chicago Press.FAO (2020). Forests, biodiversity and people. Agricultural and urban land: The UN FAO Statistical database provides data on global agricultural and urban land from 1961 onwards. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. Think of the worlds deforestation occurs in the late transition phase is when deforestation rates across the world gained million! Down per year since there is often year-to-year variability in deforestation or reforestation rates this... 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