Tropical forests covering an area nearly the size of India are set to be destroyed in the next 35 years, a faster rate of deforestation than previously thought, a study said on Monday.
The Washington-based Center for Global Development, using satellite imagery and data from 100 countries, predicted that 289 million hectares of tropical forests would be felled by 2050. The results will have dangerous implications for accelerating climate change, the study said.
Deforestation is said to contribute to climate change, as forests store carbon while acting as a filter taking carbon dioxide gas out of the atmosphere.
If trends continue, tropical deforestation will add 169 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2050, the equivalent of running 44,000 coal-fired power plants for a year, the study’s lead author said.
“Reducing tropical deforestation is a cheap way to fight climate change,” environmental economist Jonah Busch said.
He recommended taxing carbon emissions to push countries to protect their forests.
UN climate change experts estimate that nations must keep emissions to one trillion tonnes of carbon to keep global temperature rises below 2°C, the maximum possible increase before catastrophic climate change is predicted to start.
If trends continue, the amount of carbon burned as a result of clearing tropical forests is equal to roughly one-sixth of the entire global carbon dioxide allotment, Busch said.
“The biggest driver of tropical deforestation by far is industrial agriculture to produce globally traded commodities, including soy and palm oil,” he said.
The study predicted the rate of deforestation will climb through 2020 and 2030 and accelerate in about the year 2040 if changes are not made.
There have been some success stories where countries reduced tropical deforestation without compromising economic growth or food production, the study said.
Brazil decreased deforestation in the Amazon rainforest by 80 percent over a decade through the use of satellite monitoring and increased law enforcement, even as cattle and soy production rose, the study said.
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