Thats an area the size of the United Kingdom. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation is the complete removal of trees for the conversion of forest to another land use such as agriculture, mining, or towns and cities. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? 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. Forest cover falls quickly, and the annual loss of forest is high. The default is shown for Brazil, but you can explore the data for a range of countries using the Change country button. But, overall, oilseeds and beef tend to top the list for most countries. Bringing all of these elements together, we can focus on a few points that should help us prioritise our efforts to end deforestation. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. At the top of the list we see some of the major producer countries Brazil and Indonesia. In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. There are other aspects to consider. The world has lost one-third of its forest an area twice the size of the United States. Many consumers are concerned that their food choices are linked to deforestation in some of these hotspots. Rudel, T. K., Coomes, O. T., Moran, E., Achard, F., Angelsen, A., Xu, J., & Lambin, E. (2005). Forest loss measures the net change in forest cover: the loss in forests due to deforestation plus any expansion of forest through afforestation.6. 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 biodiversity of managed tree plantations which are periodically cut, regrown, cut again, then regrown is not the same. Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. 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? Sometimes these restoration programmes pale in comparison to the deforestation theyre driving elsewhere. (2020).References:FAO and UNEP. England is similar: in the late 11th century, 15% of the country was forested, and over the following centuries two-thirds were cut down. Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. Lets put some numbers to them. 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. 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. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. To investigate this question, researchers Florence Pendrill et al. [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. For the past 30 years, temperate regions have seen a continued increase in forest cover through afforestation: you see this as the bars are now positive (pointing upwards). See which countries are gaining forest though natural forest expansion and afforestation. But most emissions are driven by domestic markets this means policies in the major producer countries will be key to tackling this problem. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. Africa is also different here. Lets start at the top. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings. By the mid-18th century, only 4% of the country was forested. How many trees are cut down each year? Healthy communities: Tree-filled neighborhoods lower levels of domestic violence and are safer and more sociable. 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. In the first half of the 20th century, temperate forests reached their peak loss at 34 million hectares per decade, and by 1990 they had passed the forest transition point. Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. 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. Around half of this deforestation is offset by regrowing forests, so overall we lose around five million hectares each year. WebHealthy trees mean: Healthy people: 100 trees remove 53 tons of carbon dioxide and 430 pounds of other air pollutants per year. The relationships of population and forest trends. At this stage, countries are still losing forest each year but at a lower rate than before. Land, 9(5), 129. If we can take advantage of these innovations, we can bring deforestation to an end. Thats both an economic and environmental win. Americans cut down 15,094,678 Christmas trees in 2017, according to the most recent year of data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. They also contribute to global deforestation through the foods they import from poorer countries. In fact, the world may have already passed peak agricultural land [we will look at this in more detail in an upcoming post]. As of 2020, the UN estimates the planet is losing over 7,000,000 hectares per year to deforestation.27Between 1990 and 2015, the world lost 129 million hectares of forest an area about the size of South Africa.11 Natural forests lost by continent9include: Africa 3.2 million hectares Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone. The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. Stage 3 The Late Transition phase is when deforestation rates start to slow down again. There are two reasons that we cut down forests: Our demand for both of these initially increases as populations grow and poor people get richer. 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. By Georgina Rannard. When in history did we lose it? But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. Can we bring it to an end? Types and rates of forest disturbance in Brazilian Legal Amazon, 20002013. 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. 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. But, it would be wrong to think that the only impact rich countries have on global forests is through changes in their domestic forests. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9825en. We should not only look at where these foods are produced, but also where the consumer demand is coming from. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. A future with more people and more forest is possible. Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. How Many Acres of Trees Are Cut Down Each Year? Most of todays richest countries all of Europe, North America, Japan, South Korea have passed the turning point and are now regaining forest. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Latin America exports around 23% of its emissions; that means more than three-quarters are generated for products that are consumed within domestic markets. 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 latter will experience short-term environmental impacts, but will ultimately regrow. But distilling changes to this single metric tree or forest loss comes with its own issues. By combining our earlier Sankey diagram, and breakdown of emissions by product, we can see that we can tackle a large share of these emissions through only a few key trade flows. 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. are added every year. How many trees have been cut down? Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. Just over one-quarter of global forest loss is driven by deforestation. Stage 2 The Early Transition phase is when countries start to lose forests very rapidly. But the solution is not so simple. 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]. 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. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. (2017). The Earth System (Vol. That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. Lets now focus on the consumers of products driving deforestation. Explore long-term changes in deforestation, and deforestation rates across the world today. Even with the most basic of lifestyles compared to todays standards, the per capita footprint of our ancestors would have been large. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of This follows the classic forest transition model with development, which we look at in more detail in a related article. 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. In Latin America and Southeast Asia in particular, commodity-driven deforestation mainly the clearance of forests to grow crops such as palm oil and soy, and pasture for beef production accounts for almost two-thirds of forest loss. 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. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. 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. Forest loss or tree loss captures two fundamental impacts on forest cover: deforestation and forest degradation. Improvements in agricultural productivity tends to both drive and follow economic growth. Many farmers rely on international buyers to earn a living and improve their livelihoods. In just over 100 years the world lost as much forest as it had in the previous 9,000 years. But forest cover increases through reforestation. are added every year. You see that of the 14.9 billion hectares of land on the planet, only 71% of it is habitable the other 29% is either covered by ice and glaciers, or is barren land such as deserts, salt flats, or dunes. From the chart we see that this was driven by the continued expansion of land for agriculture. It might seem odd to argue that we should focus our efforts on tackling this quarter of forest loss (rather than the other 73%). 71% of this is driven by demand in domestic markets, and the remaining 29% for the production of products that are traded. Web3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down per 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. How many trees are cut down each year?. 27% of forest loss results from commodity-driven deforestation cutting down forests to grow crops such as soy, palm oil, cocoa, to raise livestock on pasture, and mining operations. We lost 150 million hectares an area half the size of India during that decade. [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. But we also see that some countries which import a lot of food have high emissions. Some of the worlds poorest countries are still in the pre-transition phase. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? 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. Within this global aggregated trend there are many forest transitions at local, national or regional levels occurring. Our crop yields improve and so we need less land for agriculture. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. If we want to end deforestation we need to understand where and why its happening; where countries are within their transition; and what can be done to accelerate their progress through it. How many trees are cut down each year? Net forest loss is not the same as deforestation it measures deforestation plus any gains in forest over a given period. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. For example, Ellis et al. I have reconstructed long-term data using various studies which Ive documented here. But there are real reasons to believe that this century doesnt have to replicate the destruction of the last one. 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. Healthy communities: Tree-filled neighborhoods lower levels of domestic violence and are safer and more sociable. 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 rate of deforestation is declining, but we still lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per year between 2015-2020. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. This gives us an indication of the impact of the average persons diet. Why? It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. What we know and dont know about Earths missing biodiversity. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. 71% of deforestation is for domestic production. Explore palm oil production across the world, and its impacts on the environment. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. 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