Today, only 4 billion hectares are left. 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. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. It also estimates that 46% of the worlds trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. This was first coined by Alexander Mather in the 1990s.Mather, A. S. (1990). 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. Note that this only measures the emissions from tropical deforestation it doesnt include any other emissions from agricultural production, such as methane from livestock, or rice, or the use of fertilizers. Firstly, international trade does play a role in deforestation its responsible for almost one-third of emissions. 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. Williams, M. (2003). This often comes at the cost of forests. (2020). This interactive map shows deforestation rates across the world. The rate of deforestation is declining, but we still lost forests at a whopping 10 million hectares per year between 2015-2020. 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. Luxembourg has the largest footprint at nearly three tonnes per person. 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. This emphasises two important points. We can calculate this increase as [(7.63 billion 3.09 billion) / 3.09 billion * 100 = 147%]. 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? 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. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. Since international demand is driving one-third of deforestation emissions, we have some opportunity to reduce emissions through global consumers and supply chains. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . How many trees are chopped down for Christmas? International trade is important for socioeconomic development. Humans have already destroyed around 46% of the trees on Earth. This is true for some problems, such as climate change. Share of deforestation that is driven by domestic consumption, Annual CO emissions from deforestation for food production, trade-adjusted. Ellis, E. C., Beusen, A. H., & Goldewijk, K. K. (2020). In the chart we see how emissions from tropical deforestation are distributed through international supply chains. Science, 349(6250), 827-832. Classifying drivers of global forest loss. Data on net forest change, afforestation and deforestation is sourced from the UN Food and Agriculture Organizations Forest Resources Assessment. The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. 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%. In the article we will look at the reasons we lose forest; how these can be differentiated in a useful way; and what this means for understanding our priorities in tackling forest loss. In contrast, most forest degradation two-thirds of it occurs in temperate countries. Nature, 525(7568), 201-205. If we look at where countries are in their transition today we can understand where we expect to lose and gain forest in the coming decades. Rural Sociology, 63(4), 533-552. Thats around half the size of Germany. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. The change is temporary. Explore palm oil production across the world, and its impacts on the environment. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. Web42 million trees are cut down each day. The annual change is now positive. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. And to identify where deforestation is occurring; perhaps as important, show where forest loss is not deforestation. It provides long-term estimates on forest cover in 10,000 and 5,000 years BP. England is similar: in the late 11th century, 15% of the country was forested, and over the following centuries two-thirds were cut down. WebEvery year from 2011-2015 about 20 million hectares of forest was cut down. What are the major impacts of mass deforestation and forest loss? Many people think of environmental concerns as a modern issue: humanitys destruction of nature and ecosystems as a result of very recent population growth and increasing consumption. 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.) 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 research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. The amount of land used for agriculture land to grow crops as well as grazing land for livestock was expanding. Healthy communities: Tree-filled neighborhoods lower levels of domestic violence and are safer and more sociable. You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. 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, supply chains are international. 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? To investigate this question, researchers Florence Pendrill et al. WebThe UN FAO estimate that 10 million hectares of forest were cut down each year. In the chart we see how the cover of the earths surface has changed over the past 10,000 years. Nature Sustainability, 1-9. How many trees are chopped down for Christmas? [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. High-income countries were the largest importers of deforestation, accounting for 40% of it. 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. [1] That's 15.3 billion every year. Forest transition theory and the reforesting of Scotland. 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. Today, most deforestation occurs in the tropics. 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.) The United States is the worlds largest consumer (and second largest producer, after Canada) of forest products. Tropical forests and the changing earth system. Nicolas-Jacques Cont, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability. By the 19th century the forest area was reduced to a third of what it once was. Some of the worlds poorest countries are still in the pre-transition phase. You have permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited. As we will see later, this would be a distraction from our primary concern: ending tropical deforestation. 1000 years ago, 20% of Scotlands land was covered by forest. (2012).Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy, V., De Fries, R. S., Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., & Romijn, E. (2012). Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. Since three-quarters of tropical deforestation is driven by agriculture, thats a valid concern. All other material, including 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. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. The changes to the forest are often temporary and its expected that they will regrow. We see one such transition in the chart: the forest loss in the temperate regions shown as the green part of the bars peaked much earlier than the global forest loss. Anthropogenic Biomes: 10,000 BCE to 2015 CE. That is why we should be focusing on tropical deforestation. But this is no longer the case: forest loss across North America and Europe is now the result of harvesting forestry products from tree plantations, or tree loss in wildfires. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Brazil, in contrast, caused more deforestation domestically in the production of goods for other countries than it imported from elsewhere. Many forests utilize the sustained-yield management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year. 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. 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. Across the US and Europe the breakdown of products is more varied. Half of global forest loss occurred between 8,000BC and 1900; the other half was lost in the last century alone. The diet of the average Brazilian creates 2.7 tonnes of CO2 from deforestation alone. Deforestation displaced: trade in forest-risk commodities and the prospects for a global forest transition. The biodiversity of managed tree plantations which are periodically cut, regrown, cut again, then regrown is not the same. Second, it makes clear how much deforestation accelerated over the last century. 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. And its not just in forests eitherits also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the worlds land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. 95% of global deforestation occurs in the tropics. How much deforestation happens every day? Brazils emissions are high because Brazilians eat a lot of beef. Its useful to make this distinction because as we will see where the world has lost forests has shifted. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of The world loses 5 million hectares of forest to deforestation each year. are added every year. Thats both an economic and environmental win. 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. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. 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. That was 6.5% of global CO2 emissions.35. Lets take an example. Note that in this study, the category of subsistence agriculture was classified as a deforestation driver, and so is not included. From 1850 to 1920, losses were around 50% higher at 30 million hectares per decade thats like losing a forested area the size of Italy every 10 years. From the chart we see that this was driven by the continued expansion of land for agriculture. Mather, A. S. (2004). How many trees are cut down each year? How do these two measures compare? At this stage, countries are still losing forest each year but at a lower rate than before. 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. [4] Forests cover 4.06 billion hectares (just less than 31%) of How many trees are cut down each year? If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, reducing meat and dairy intake particularly beef and lamb has the largest impact. Environmental Research Letters, 7(4), 044009. FAO. (2020).References:FAO and UNEP. 38. 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. Land, 9(5), 129. 38. Forest degradation measures a thinning of the canopy a reduction in the density of trees in the area but without a change in land use. I have therefore excluded these categories so we can focus on how habitable land is used. By the mid-18th century, only 4% of the country was forested. Healthy environment: One hundred mature trees catch about 139,000 gallons of rainwater per year. Global deforestation peaked in the 1980s. 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. Rather than looking at total figures by country [if youre interested, we have mapped them here] we have calculated the per capita footprint. Still, more than half of the worlds habitable land was forested. Stage 3 The Late Transition phase is when deforestation rates start to slow down again. It assumes the impact of clearing primary rainforest in the Amazon to produce soybeans is the same as logging planted forests in the UK. Noriko Hosonuma et al. Only 10% of this was lost in the first half of this period, until 5,000 years ago. It was a net exporter. The Forest Transition therefore tends to follow a development pathway.16 As a country achieves economic growth it moves through each of the four stages. Our crop yields improve and so we need less land for agriculture. But when forests are cut, burned or otherwise removed they emit carbon instead of absorb carbon. Improvements in crop yields mean the per capita demand for agricultural land continues to fall. Many countries have followed this classic U-shaped pattern. If we fast-forward to 1700 when the global population had increased more than ten-fold, to 603 million. According to the Environmental Paper Network, an estimated 30% of felled trees are used for paper products. Scottish Geographical Journal, 120(1-2), 83-98. But, overall, oilseeds and beef tend to top the list for most countries. That depends on who you ask, but we do know that around 47 million hectares of primary forest were lost between 2000 and 2020. Most traded emissions are embedded in soy and palm oil exports to China and India; and beef, soy and palm oil exports to Europe. Whether we look at the distribution of endemic mammal species, bird species, or amphibian species, the map is the same: subtropical countries are packed with unique wildlife. 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. And, we might place more value on preserving primary, native forests that havent yet been deforested over regrowing forests that have lost their previous ecosystems. Our World In Data is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1186433). Most tropical deforestation is driven by demand for products in domestic markets. Deforestation, reforestation, and development. The scale of deforestation today might give us little hope for protecting our diverse forests. Africas emissions are high because people are clearing forests to produce more food. The rate of forest loss changed a lot. Nearly all 95% of this deforestation occurs in the tropics. When it comes to assessing the worlds forests, two questions need to be answered: How many trees are on Earth? and. A new study published in Nature estimates the planet has 3.04 trillion trees. Why? 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. 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. How many trees are cut down each year? This is also true for major economies such as China and India. On the x-axis we have imported deforestation. See the distribution of global forests and which countries have the most forest cover. 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. This is very close to our estimate of a one-third loss. But then the trend turned, and it moved from deforestation to reforestation. 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. In China, the biggest driver is demand for oilseeds which is the combination of soy imported from Latin America and palm oil, imported from Indonesia and Malaysia. The breakdown of forest loss globally, and by region, is shown in the chart.22. In a study published in Global Environmental Change, Florence Pendrill and colleagues investigated where tropical deforestation was occurring; what products were driving this; and, using global trade models, they traced where these products were going in international supply chains.34, They found that tropical deforestation given as the annual average between 2010 and 2014 was responsible for 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. They are also richer sites of biodiversity. Global Environmental Change, 15(1), 23-31. The definition of forest can vary depending on aspects such as tree density and height. At the end of this stage, countries are approaching the transition point. And its not just in forests eitherits also happening on farms, in cities, and on private property. Rome. [2] Only 36% of the world's rainforests remain intact. This number comes from the World Bank, which estimates that there are 3 trillion trees on the planet. According to CNN, each year over 1,000 plants and animal species go extinct due to deforestation and subsequent habitat loss. How Many Trees are Cut down for Paper Each Year . Not all forest loss is equal: what is the difference between deforestation and forest degradation? But by studying how forests have changed over time, theres good reason to think that a way forward is possible. This diagram is adapted from the work of Hosonuma et al. 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. 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. Lewis, S. L., Edwards, D. P., & Galbraith, D. (2015). On the horizontal axis we have time, spanning from 1700 to 2020; on the vertical axis we have the decadal change in forest cover. Imagine over 100 large harvesters working non-stop. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. We see very clearly that the large Brazilian footprint is driven by its domestic demand for beef. The world has lost one-third of its forest an area twice the size of the United States. Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. Healthy communities: Tree-filled neighborhoods lower levels of domestic violence and are safer and more sociable. 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. Because people are starting to see how climate change affects trees. The grey line marks where the area of domestic regrowth of forests is exactly equal to imported deforestation. Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone. How many trees does IKEA cut down a The research says 15.3 billion trees are chopped down every year. Instead of using wood for fuel we switch to fossil fuels, or hopefully, more renewables and nuclear energy. The data used in this chart comes from several sources. Thats one football field of forest lost every single second around the clock. Not only would this be bad for people, it might also be bad for forests. All the software and code that we write is open source and made available via GitHub under the permissive MIT license. How much deforestation happens every day? 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. We need to pass the transition point as soon as possible, while minimising the amount of forest we lose along the way. Before we look at trends in deforestation across the world specifically, its useful to understand the net change in forest cover. Clearing of the Brazilian Amazon for pasture and croplands was a major driver of this loss. Forest loss or tree loss captures two fundamental impacts on forest cover: deforestation and forest degradation. Thats equivalent to the area of South Africa. Licenses: All visualizations, data, and articles produced by Our World in Data are open access under the Creative Commons BY license. This is shortly after the end of the last great ice age, through to the present day.2. Scientific Reports, 7, 40678. But the magnitude of these impacts are often less than the complete conversion of forest. 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. There is some bad news, though: that number is likely to increase by 20% by 2023. But urban land accounts for just 1% of global habitable land. We lost 150 million hectares an area half the size of India during that decade. This follows the classic forest transition model with development, which we look at in more detail in a related article. Global Environmental Change, 56, 1-10. Growing all those trees requires about 19.7 square miles of land. Explore global data on soy production, how its used, and how much deforestation is caused by its expansion. University of Chicago Press.FAO (2020). Forests, biodiversity and people. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? This is calculated by taking each countrys imported deforestation and subtracting its exported deforestation. Many rich countries are driving deforestation in other parts of the world, but are regrowing forests domestically. 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. A study published on September 2, 2015 in the journal Nature suggests these answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. Each year, an estimated 15 billion trees are cut down around the world. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8753en. How much deforestation happens every day? Since then, deforestation rates have steadily declined, to 78 million hectares in the 1990s; 52 million in the early 2000s; and 47 million in the last decade. Tropical forests are often more productive than temperate forests, meaning they store more carbon. The turn of the 20th century is when global forest loss reached the halfway point: half of total forest loss occurred from 8,000BC to 1900; the other half occurred in the last century alone. More than 7 million hectares of forest, or 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees, are cut down every year because of deforestation. Africa is also different here. The paths between these end boxes indicate where emissions are being traded the wider the bar, the more emissions are embedded in these products. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Forest Resources Assessment estimates global deforestation, averaged over the five-year period from 2015 to 2020 was 10 million hectares per year. These countries might have high levels of afforestation at home, but theyre still having a net negative impact on the size of the worlds forests. In the chart we see deforestation emissions per person, measured in tonnes of CO2 per year. Thats like losing an area the size of Portugal every two years. But it can bridge between deforestation and degradation depending on the timeframe and permanence of these agricultural practices. How many trees are cut down each year in the Amazon rainforest? That means that each year, one percent of all trees are being destroyed. How many trees are lost to deforestation each year? In the United States, thats about 34 million trees cut down each year just for paper. 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. At the top of the list we see some of the major producer countries Brazil and Indonesia. estimate a 35% loss of global forest cover since 10,000. As mentioned above, about 15 billion trees are cut down each year. The study also finds that human activity negatively affects tree abundance from the boreal forests to the equator. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings. 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. The total cut down so far is over 470 million trees since January 1st. This might paint a bleak picture for the future of the worlds forests: the United Nations projects that the global population will continue to grow, reaching 10.8 billion by 2100. The mid-18th century, only 4 % of the last great ice age, through the... And nuclear energy but urban land accounts for just 1 % of the Brazilian... Have therefore excluded these categories so we need to pass the transition point exported.! And croplands was a major driver of this stage, countries are still the! Oilseeds and beef tend to top the list we see how climate change trees! 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