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.) 95% of global deforestation occurs in the tropics. Americans cut down 15,094,678 Christmas trees in 2017, according to the most recent year of data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. But most emissions are driven by domestic markets this means policies in the major producer countries will be key to tackling this problem. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. 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. Our World In Data is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1186433). The researchs results are Forest Transitions: why do we lose then regain forests? 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. 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. Belhaven Press. There are other aspects to consider. Countries with a positive change (shown in green) are regrowing forest faster than theyre losing it. Rome. Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, The researchs results are Since year-to-year changes in forest cover can be volatile, the UN FAO provide this annual data averaged over five-year periods. 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. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. For example, the US imported 64,000 hectares of deforested land, but increased its domestic forest area by 275,000 hectares. 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. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? It was predominantly temperate forests that were being lost at this time. 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. 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. Licenses: All visualizations, data, and articles produced by Our World in Data are open access under the Creative Commons BY license. In their analysis of global forest loss, Philip Curtis and colleagues used satellite images to assess where and why the world lost forests between 2001 and 2015. Clearing of the Brazilian Amazon for pasture and croplands was a major driver of this loss. Africa is also different here. Most of our future deforestation is going to come from countries in the pre- or early-transition phase. 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? The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. 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. 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. At this stage, countries are still losing forest each year but at a lower rate than before. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. I have reconstructed long-term data using various studies which Ive documented here. Before we look at trends in deforestation across the world specifically, its useful to understand the net change in forest cover. are added every year. That these countries have recently regained forests is also visible in the long-term forest trends above. Degradation drivers, including logging and especially wildfires can definitely have major impacts on forest health: animal populations decline, trees can die, and CO2 is emitted. See which countries are gaining forest though natural forest expansion and afforestation. To put this in perspective, that would be around one-sixth of the total carbon footprint of the average EU diet.36. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. 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. Since international demand is driving one-third of deforestation emissions, we have some opportunity to reduce emissions through global consumers and supply chains. Maxwell, S. L., Fuller, R. A., Brooks, T. M., & Watson, J. E. (2016). Thats like losing an area the size of Portugal every two years. But, overall, oilseeds and beef tend to top the list for most countries. In the map we see the net deforestation embedded in trade for each country. People cut down 15 billion trees each year and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization. Imagine some temperate country was responsible for the deforestation of 25,000 hectares in tropical countries but was restoring its own forests at a rate of 50,000 hectares per year. Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. and an argument for why deforestation is worse than degradation. The change is permanent. Then things started to speed up. Habitat loss is the leading driver of global biodiversity loss.25 When we cut down rainforests we are destroying the habitats of many unique species, and reshaping these ecosystems permanently. Around half of this deforestation is offset by regrowing forests, so overall we lose around five million hectares each year. Since 1961, the amount of land we use for agriculture increased by only 7%. Thats more than the countrys CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, which are around 2.2 tonnes per person. Thats around half the size of Germany. We need to pass the transition point as soon as possible, while minimising the amount of forest we lose along the way. How many trees are cut down each year? 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. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. Moving into the 20th century there was a stepwise change in demand for agricultural land and energy from wood. 432). Centuries ago it was mainly temperate regions that were driving global deforestation [we take a look at this longer history of deforestation in a related article]. 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). This is very close to our estimate of a one-third loss. Since three-quarters of tropical deforestation is driven by agriculture, thats a valid concern. (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. We see massive differences in how important each driver is across the world. This rapid swapping of green for gray is harmful to the people living in these spaces, and it sets cities up for long-term environmental decline, according to the scientists. The change is temporary. The trees are not expected to regrow. 2020. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. 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. One option is to adopt stricter guidelines on what suppliers to source from, and implementing zero-deforestation policies that stop the trade of goods that have been produced on deforested land. Forest cover falls quickly, and the annual loss of forest is high. Deforestation in Africa is mainly driven by local populations and markets; only 9% of its emissions are exported. The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. In 2012 the mid-year of this period global emissions from fossil fuels, industry and land use change was 40.2 billion tonnes. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. Cutting them down disrupts or destroys established, species-rich ecosystems. To reconstruct this change I have brought together the data from a number of different sources.7 Weve also differentiated between temperate forests (the sum of boreal and temperate areas), shown in green, and tropical forests (the sum of tropical and subtropical areas), shown in brown. Countries which lie above the grey line such as the United States, Finland, China restore more forest each year domestically than they import from elsewhere. 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. International trade was responsible for around one-third (29%) of these emissions. Historical data pre-1990 is sourced from Michael Williams book, Deforesting the Earth: from prehistory to global crisis. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. Why? Stage 3 The Late Transition phase is when deforestation rates start to slow down again. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. Year-to-year data on forest change comes with several issues: either data at this resolution is not available, or year-to-year changes can be highly variable. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. It doesnt capture trees that are cut down in planted forests; the land is still forested, its now just regrowing forest. Nature Sustainability, 1-9. 40% of traded deforestation ends up in high-income countries, meaning they are responsible for 12% of deforestation.29. 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. According to the Environmental Paper Network, an estimated 30% of felled trees are used for paper products. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. 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. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. Many farmers rely on international buyers to earn a living and improve their livelihoods. Philipp Curtis and colleagues make this point clear. Rome. The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. How many trees are cut down each year?. The world has lost one-third of its forest an area twice the size of the United States. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? First, it reiterates that deforestation is not a new problem: relatively small populations of the past were capable of driving a large amount of forest loss. Rather than looking at total figures by country [if youre interested, we have mapped them here] we have calculated the per capita footprint. On the x-axis we have imported deforestation. How many trees have been cut down? When we treat these impacts equally we make it difficult to prioritize our efforts in the fight against deforestation. What this showed was that although humans have been deforesting the planet for millennia, the rate of forest loss accelerated rapidly in the last few centuries. 71% of deforestation is for domestic production. Humans have been cutting down trees for millennia. How much deforestation happens every day? Deforestation also results in larger losses of biodiversity and carbon relative to degradation. Carbon emissions from deforestation: are they driven by domestic demand or international trade? When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. 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. 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. I have therefore excluded these categories so we can focus on how habitable land is used. 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. But there are real reasons to believe that this century doesnt have to replicate the destruction of the last one. Some of the worlds poorest countries are still in the pre-transition phase. More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. This increase was mostly driven by tropical deforestation as countries across Asia and Latin America followed the path of Europe and North America. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. In a previous post we looked at this change in global forests over the long-run. But they wanted to contribute to a more informed discussion about where to focus forest conservation efforts by understanding why forests were being lost. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. One of the reasons poorer countries clear forest to make room for farmland is that they achieve low crop yields. 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