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.) Imported emissions are also high for Taiwan, Belgium and the Netherlands at around one tonne. Philipp Curtis and colleagues make this point clear. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Rome. Since 2016, an average of 28 million hectares have been cut down every year. At the beginning of this phase, the forest area is at its lowest point. The rate of deforestation is declining, but we still lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per year between 2015-2020. This topic page can be cited as: All visualizations, data, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license. To put this in perspective, that would be around one-sixth of the total carbon footprint of the average EU diet.36. We need to pass the transition point as soon as possible, while minimising the amount of forest we lose along the way. High-income countries were the largest importers of deforestation, accounting for 40% of it. Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). This is true for some problems, such as climate change. They are smaller, and more temporary. Noriko Hosonuma et al. Scheffers, B. R., Joppa, L. N., Pimm, S. L., & Laurance, W. F. (2012). How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? 95% of this occurs in the tropics. How do these two measures compare? Healthy communities: Tree-filled neighborhoods lower levels of domestic violence and are safer and more sociable. Improvements in agricultural productivity tends to both drive and follow economic growth. 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. Weve seen the five key drivers of forest loss. The course and drivers of the forest transition: the case of France. However, most align on the relative change in forests over this period. People cut down 15 billion trees each year and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. Without reliable metrics that capture all of these differences, we will have to stick with total changes in forest area for now. On balance, they add to the global forest stock. 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. Forest cover falls quickly, and the annual loss of forest is high. How many trees are chopped down for Christmas? Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. Thats like losing an area the size of Portugal every two years. How many trees are cut down each year?. We should not only look at where these foods are produced, but also where the consumer demand is coming from. Only 10% of this was lost in the first half of this period, until 5,000 years ago. If we fast-forward to 1700 when the global population had increased more than ten-fold, to 603 million. Deforestation was therefore responsible for [2.6 / 40.2 * 100 = 6.5%]. 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. 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. But then the trend turned, and it moved from deforestation to reforestation. 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. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. See the distribution of global forests and which countries have the most forest cover. FAO. 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%. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. Across Africa, fuelwood and charcoal played a much larger role it accounted for more than half (52%). The problem is that it treats all forest loss as equal. Crowther, T. W., Glick, H. B., Covey, K. R., Bettigole, C., Maynard, D. S., Thomas, S. M., & Tuanmu, M. N. (2015). and an argument for why deforestation is worse than degradation. England is similar: in the late 11th century, 15% of the country was forested, and over the following centuries two-thirds were cut down. For example, the average German generated half a tonne (510 kilograms) of CO2 per person from domestic and imported foods. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, In just over 100 years the world lost as much forest as it had in the previous 9,000 years. The world loses 5 million hectares of forest to deforestation each year. Tropical forests are often more productive than temperate forests, meaning they store more carbon. 40% of traded deforestation ends up in high-income countries, meaning they are responsible for 12% of deforestation.29. 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. But the solution is not so simple. But by studying how forests have changed over time, theres good reason to think that a way forward is possible. This is shortly after the end of the last great ice age, through to the present day.2. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. But not all of it is to produce products for local markets. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. Lets take an example. Global deforestation peaked in the 1980s. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. 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? Healthy environment: One hundred mature trees catch about 139,000 gallons of rainwater per year. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. Forest transition theory and the reforesting of Scotland. We see massive differences in how important each driver is across the world. The researchs results are That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. But, understanding the role of deforestation in the products we buy is important. As to the number of trees this represents, its impossible to get an accurate count. The change is permanent. Most of our future deforestation is going to come from countries in the pre- or early-transition phase. 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. Humanitys biggest footprint is due to what we eat, not where we live. Not all forest is equal. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of 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. Since the end of the last great ice age 10,000 years ago the world has lost one-third of its forests.5 Two billion hectares of forest an area twice the size of the United States has been cleared to grow crops, raise livestock, and use for fuelwood. 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. The data used in this chart comes from several sources. The UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. But it was then that England reached its transition point and since then, forests have doubled in size. 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. estimate a 35% loss of global forest cover since 10,000. The grey line marks where the area of domestic regrowth of forests is exactly equal to imported deforestation. Since there is often year-to-year variability in deforestation or reforestation rates, this is shown as the five-year average. Brazils emissions are high because Brazilians eat a lot of beef. 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 By Georgina Rannard. Brazil, for example, went through a period of very rapid deforestation in the 1980s and 90s (its early transition phase) but its losses have slowed, meaning it is now in the late transition. It results in a permanent conversion of forest into an alternative land use. Mather, A. S. (2004). Shifting agriculture is usually classified as degradation because the land is often abandoned and the forests regrow naturally. On balance, it would still have a positive impact on the size of global forests; its net contribution would be increasing forest area by 25,000 hectares.32 However, this country might still be causing more damage than this for a couple of reasons. Curtis, P. G., Slay, C. M., Harris, N. L., Tyukavina, A., & Hansen, M. C. (2018). After seeing this data, people might argue that we should cut back on trade. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. Maxwell, S. L., Fuller, R. A., Brooks, T. M., & Watson, J. E. (2016). This increase was mostly driven by tropical deforestation as countries across Asia and Latin America followed the path of Europe and North America. Most emissions 71% came from foods consumed in the country that they were produced. Its domestic demand, not international trade, that is the main driver of deforestation. People cut down 15 billion trees each year and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization. Some interesting facts state that every second, 1.5 acres of wood are cut down, 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. It was a net importer. International trade plays an important role in this growth, and may allow farmers to see the yield gains they need to produce more food using less land. 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. The researchs results are The consumption choices of people in these countries cause deforestation elsewhere in the world. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. Stage 3 The Late Transition phase is when deforestation rates start to slow down again. Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. Global forest resources. The United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. Are they causing more deforestation elsewhere than they are regenerating in forests at home? 59% occurs in Latin America, with a further 28% from Southeast Asia. Moving into the 20th century there was a stepwise change in demand for agricultural land and energy from wood. By Georgina Rannard. How much deforestation happens every day? Rural Sociology, 63(4), 533-552. Increasing human dominance of tropical forests. Web3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down per year. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of When we think of the growing pressures on land from modern populations we often picture sprawling megacities. 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. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. It provides long-term estimates on forest cover in 10,000 and 5,000 years BP. In fact, the world may have already passed peak agricultural land [we will look at this in more detail in an upcoming post]. University of Chicago Press.FAO (2020). 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. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. Countries may lose some forest each year, but this is at a very slow rate. I have therefore excluded these categories so we can focus on how habitable land is used. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. 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. Data on net forest change, afforestation and deforestation is sourced from the UN Food and Agriculture Organizations Forest Resources Assessment. Our articles and data visualizations rely on work from many different people and organizations. This is nearly always true of planted forests in temperate regions there, planted forests are long-established and do not replace primary existing forests. 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