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What Does 30 Years of Global Deforestation Look Like?

by Aran Ali
This post is by Aran Ali from Visual Capitalist

The following content is sponsored by The LEAF Coalition

The Briefing

  • 177.5 million hectares of land have been lost to deforestation since the 1990s
  • Deforestation accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions

30 Years of Deforestation

Estimates say deforestation practices need to be thwarted by 75% by 2030, in order to effectively manage rising global average temperatures. But when looking at deforestation data over the last 30 years, it’s clear we’ve gone in the opposite direction.

This sponsored graphic from The LEAF Coalition looks at the total land lost to deforestation since the 1990s and compares it to the total land in the U.S. as a point of reference.

The Rise and Fall of Forests

Approximately 4% of the world’s forests have been lost since the 1990s. This is equivalent to 177.5 million hectares or 685,000 square miles, and greater than the total land area of 179 countries in the world. In addition, this covers one-fifth of the land in America. Here’s how the average global annual net change in forest area looks on a decade-by-decade basis.

Period

Global Annual Forest Area Net Change (Hectares)

2010-2020

-4.7M ha

2000-2010

-5.2M ha

1990-2000

-7.8M ha

A silver lining here is that in the most recent decade that’s passed we’ve seen a reduction in the amount of deforestation. Compared to the late 1990s, the decade between 2010 and 2020 has seen yearly deforestation reduce by 3.1 million hectares from 7.8 million to 4.7 million.

However, there’s still plenty of work that needs (Read more...)

The Domino Effects of Tropical Deforestation

by Iman Ghosh
This post is by Iman Ghosh from Visual Capitalist

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The following content is sponsored by The LEAF Coalition

The Domino Effects of Tropical Deforestation

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), we lose over 10 million hectares of forests every single year. That’s the same as losing an area the size of New York’s Central Park every 18 minutes.

In this graphic from our sponsor LEAF Coalition, we take a look at the drastic knock-on effects of tropical deforestation: from significant greenhouse gas emissions and irreversible loss in biodiversity to the impact on the lives of Indigenous Peoples.

Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Economic Sector

When looking at how greenhouse gas emissions break down by sector, the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector is responsible for nearly 15% of global emissions.

Moreover, global models estimate that net emissions from land use and land use change are mostly as a result of deforestation.

Sector% of Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions, 2019
Energy: Electricity & Heat31.8%
Agriculture, Forestry, & Other Land Use14.9%
Energy: Transport14.3%
Energy: Manufacturing & Construction12.7%
Energy: Fugitive Emissions6.8%
Energy: Buildings6.2%
Industrial Processes6.1%
Energy: International Bunker2.6%
Energy: Other Fuel Combustion1.2%

From 2002-2015, a handful of commodities were responsible for 55% of all agriculture-linked deforestation. These include:

The Impact of Deforestation on Carbon Storage

by Iman Ghosh
This post is by Iman Ghosh from Visual Capitalist

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The following content is sponsored by The LEAF Coalition
graphic showing the impacts of deforestation both short and long term

The Impact of Deforestation on Carbon Storage

A one degree change in temperature could have catastrophic consequences.

One of the most notable influences on rising global average temperatures comes from deforestation. In fact, combined emissions from deforestation are higher than the annual emissions of any other country (apart from the U.S. and China) and contribute to roughly 12% of total annual greenhouse gas emissions.

This graphic from The LEAF Coalition takes a closer look at the impact deforestation has on global greenhouse gas emissions through carbon storage.

The Short and Long-Term Impacts

The devastating impact deforestation has on the environment cannot be understated. By some estimates, 30% of the globe’s carbon emissions are absorbed by forests each year. Yet 3.75 million hectares of tropical primary rainforest were lost in 2021, equating to 10 football pitches per minute.

However, the problem deforestation poses is actually two-fold—carbon stocks in the short-term and carbon sequestration in the long-run.

Forests have powerful carbon stocking capabilities. This refers to their ability to store carbon in biomass like their roots, trunks, and branches. Here’s how global carbon stocking by ecosystems compare:

EcosystemEstimated Carbon Stock (Gt)Annual Loss Rate
Tropical moist forests295 Gt0.45%
Boreal forests283 Gt0.18%
Temperate broadleaf forests133 Gt0.35%
Temperate (Read more...)

How Ending Tropical Deforestation Can Keep Global Warming Below 1.5°C

by Sponsored Content

The following content is sponsored by The LEAF Coalition.

How Ending Tropical Deforestation Can Keep Global Warming Below 1.5°C

How Ending Tropical Deforestation Can Keep Global Warming Below 1.5°C

In the case of global warming, a few degrees make all the difference.

The United Nations’ latest IPCC report emphasizes that the Earth is on a collision course with catastrophic climate change—that is unless, in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement, the global rise in temperatures can be limited to 1.5°C.

To achieve this however, the world will need to significantly reduce its carbon emissions. Today’s graphic from The LEAF Coalition highlights how protecting forests is essential to this process.

Tropical Deforestation: A Carbon Emissions Culprit

According to the World Economic Forum, to keep to a 1.5°C pathway by 2030, we’ll need to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half. For this trajectory to be maintained in 2050, emissions need to be completely eliminated.

However, tropical deforestation accounts for 10% of global carbon (CO₂) emissions today, which is comparable to the emissions outputs of entire countries.

 Est. Annual CO₂e Emissions
🇨🇳 China12.4 Gt/year
🇺🇸 U.S.6.0 Gt/year
🌳 Tropical tree cover loss5.3 Gt/year

In fact, combined emissions from tropical tree cover loss, including activities of deforestation, rival annual emissions from major emitters, coming in third just after China and the United States.

Protecting Forests is Key

The urgency of ending tropical deforestation to curb emissions cannot be understated. If in the previously mentioned 2030 scenario, it is assumed that emissions have already dropped steeply, deforestation today would still need (Read more...)