CO2 emissions from forest loss (original) (raw)

• Commentary
• Published: November 2009
• D. C. Morton2,
• R. S. DeFries3,
• J. G. J. Olivier4,
• P. S. Kasibhatla5,
• R. B. Jackson5,
• G. J. Collatz2 &
• …
• J. T. Randerson6

Nature Geoscience volume 2, pages 737–738 (2009) Cite this article

• 11k Accesses
• 1112 Citations
• 215 Altmetric
• Metrics details

A Correction to this article was published on 01 December 2009

This article has been updated

Deforestation is the second largest anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, after fossil fuel combustion. Following a budget reanalysis, the contribution from deforestation is revised downwards, but tropical peatlands emerge as a notable carbon dioxide source.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

• Examining the drivers of agricultural carbon emissions in Africa: an application of FMOLS and DOLS approaches

  • Talent Thebe Zwane
  • , Thomas Bilaliib Udimal
  • & Lariba Pakmoni
    Environmental Science and Pollution Research Open Access 15 March 2023

• Enhancing the ecological value of oil palm agriculture through set-asides

  • Jake E. Bicknell
  • , Jesse R. O’Hanley
  • … Zoe G. Davies
    Nature Sustainability Open Access 06 February 2023

Access options

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 12 print issues and online access

$259.00 per year

only $21.58 per issue

Buy this article

• Purchase on SpringerLink
• Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

• Log in
• Learn about institutional subscriptions
• Read our FAQs
• Contact customer support

Figure 1: Carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (D&FD) and fossil fuel emissions for 1980 onwards.

The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

Change history

• 15 November 2009

In the version of this Commentary originally published, in Fig. 1 the top solid brown line should have been a dashed brown line. This error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the text.

References

1. Gullison, R. E. et al. Science 316, 985–986 (2007).
   Article Google Scholar
2. Denman, K. L. et al. in IPCC Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis (eds Solomon, S. et al.) 499–587 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007)
   Google Scholar
3. Gibbs, H. K. & Herold, M. Env. Res. Lett. 2, 045021 (2007).
   Article Google Scholar
4. Schrope, M. Nat. Rep. Clim. Change 3, 101–103 (2009).
   Article Google Scholar
5. Available via http://tinyurl.com/kszq9t.
6. Penman, J. et al. (eds) Good Practice Guide for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, 2003).
   Google Scholar
7. Page, S. E. et al. Nature 420, 61–65 (2002).
   Article Google Scholar
8. Hooijer, A. et al. Delft Hydraulics report Q3943 (WL/Delft Hydraulics, 2006).
   Google Scholar
9. Houghton, R. A. Tellus B 55, 378–390 (2003).
   Google Scholar
10. DeFries, R. S. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 99, 14256–14261 (2002).
    Article Google Scholar
11. Grainger, A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 818–823 (2008).
    Article Google Scholar
12. Fearnside, P. M. & Laurance, W. F. Science 299 1015 (2003).
    Article Google Scholar
13. Canadell, J. G. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 18866–18870 (2007).
    Article Google Scholar
14. Houghton, R. A. in TRENDS: A Compendium of Data on Global Change (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Department of Energy, 2008); available at http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/landuse/houghton/houghton.html.
    Google Scholar
15. Hansen, M. C. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 9439–9444 (2008).
    Article Google Scholar
16. Andres, R. J. et al. Tellus B 51, 759–765 (1999).
    Article Google Scholar
17. Joint Research Centre/Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research 4.0 (2009); available at http://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu.
18. Barker, T. et al. in IPCC Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change (eds Metz, B. et al.) 25–93 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007).
    Google Scholar
19. Nabuurs, G. J. et al. in IPCC Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change (eds Metz, B. et al.) 541–584 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007).
    Google Scholar
20. Olivier, J. G. J. et al. Environ. Sci. 2, 81–99 (2005).
    Article Google Scholar
21. van der Werf, G. R. et al. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 6, 3423–3441 (2006).
    Article Google Scholar
22. van der Werf, G. R. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 20350–20355 (2008).
    Article Google Scholar
23. Pacala, S. & Socolow, R. Science 305, 968–972 (2004).
    Article Google Scholar
24. Achard, F. et al. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 18, GB2008 (2004).
    Article Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences,VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
   G. R. van der Werf
2. Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, Code 614.4, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, 20771, Maryland, USA
   D. C. Morton & G. J. Collatz
3. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 10th Floor Schermerhorn Extension, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, 10027, New York, USA
   R. S. DeFries
4. Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, PO Box 303, 3720AH, Bilthoven, The Netherlands
   J. G. J. Olivier
5. Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, 27708, North Carolina, USA
   P. S. Kasibhatla & R. B. Jackson
6. Earth System Science Department, 3212 Croul Hall, University of California, Irvine, 92697, California, USA
   J. T. Randerson

Authors

1. G. R. van der Werf
2. D. C. Morton
3. R. S. DeFries
4. J. G. J. Olivier
5. P. S. Kasibhatla
6. R. B. Jackson
7. G. J. Collatz
8. J. T. Randerson

Corresponding author

Correspondence toG. R. van der Werf.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

van der Werf, G., Morton, D., DeFries, R. et al. CO2 emissions from forest loss.Nature Geosci 2, 737–738 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo671

Download citation

• Issue date: November 2009
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo671

This article is cited by