The graph shows the carbon emissions and removals in the major continuous tropical forest regions from 1984 to 2020. Forests play a crucial role in Earth’s carbon cycle as they absorb and store large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. However, climate change, forest degradation and deforestation are causing much of this stored carbon to be released back into the atmosphere, particularly in tropical humid regions.
A new study, that uses satellite data from ESA’s Climate Change Initiative, has revealed that recovering forests only successfully combat a quarter of the current carbon emissions.
Read full story: Recovering forests regain a quarter of carbon lost from tropical deforestation