Why tackling deforestation is so important for slowing climate change
(2021) In The Conversation- Abstract
- Humanity injects an almost incomprehensible 42 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere every year. The majority of this comes from burning fossil fuels, but a substantial portion, about 16%, arises from how we use the land. Most of these land-use emissions are caused by deforestation, particularly in the tropics.
In order to slow climate change, the global community needs to reduce this 42 billion tons of emissions to net zero, a situation where any remaining emissions are balanced by uptake elsewhere. A tonne of CO₂ has the same impact on the climate whether it comes from fossil fuels or forest loss, so halting deforestation is a necessary part of tackling climate change.
As part of its push for a deal... (More) - Humanity injects an almost incomprehensible 42 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere every year. The majority of this comes from burning fossil fuels, but a substantial portion, about 16%, arises from how we use the land. Most of these land-use emissions are caused by deforestation, particularly in the tropics.
In order to slow climate change, the global community needs to reduce this 42 billion tons of emissions to net zero, a situation where any remaining emissions are balanced by uptake elsewhere. A tonne of CO₂ has the same impact on the climate whether it comes from fossil fuels or forest loss, so halting deforestation is a necessary part of tackling climate change.
As part of its push for a deal at COP26, the UK government is expected to announce a plan to “halt and reverse” global deforestation by 2030. Just how much would this help limit global warming? (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/cdc67cf6-4a19-4faf-a201-75b397a8b542
- author
- Pugh, Thomas LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021-11-01
- type
- Contribution to specialist publication or newspaper
- publication status
- published
- subject
- categories
- Popular Science
- in
- The Conversation
- publisher
- The Conversation
- ISSN
- 2201-5639
- project
- Redefining the carbon sink capacity of global forests: The driving role of tree mortality
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- cdc67cf6-4a19-4faf-a201-75b397a8b542
- alternative location
- https://theconversation.com/why-tackling-deforestation-is-so-important-for-slowing-climate-change-170287
- date added to LUP
- 2023-04-19 11:49:53
- date last changed
- 2023-05-16 13:11:52
@misc{cdc67cf6-4a19-4faf-a201-75b397a8b542,
abstract = {{Humanity injects an almost incomprehensible 42 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere every year. The majority of this comes from burning fossil fuels, but a substantial portion, about 16%, arises from how we use the land. Most of these land-use emissions are caused by deforestation, particularly in the tropics.<br/><br/>In order to slow climate change, the global community needs to reduce this 42 billion tons of emissions to net zero, a situation where any remaining emissions are balanced by uptake elsewhere. A tonne of CO₂ has the same impact on the climate whether it comes from fossil fuels or forest loss, so halting deforestation is a necessary part of tackling climate change.<br/><br/>As part of its push for a deal at COP26, the UK government is expected to announce a plan to “halt and reverse” global deforestation by 2030. Just how much would this help limit global warming?}},
author = {{Pugh, Thomas}},
issn = {{2201-5639}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{11}},
publisher = {{The Conversation}},
series = {{The Conversation}},
title = {{Why tackling deforestation is so important for slowing climate change}},
url = {{https://theconversation.com/why-tackling-deforestation-is-so-important-for-slowing-climate-change-170287}},
year = {{2021}},
}