An international study led by researchers at Lund University in Sweden shows that the rapid increase in land use in the world's tropical areas is affecting the global carbon cycle more than was previously known.
An international study led by researchers at Lund University in Sweden shows that the rapid increase in land use in the world's tropical areas is affecting the global carbon cycle more than was previously known. By studying data from a new satellite imaging system, the researchers also found that the biomass in tropical forests is decreasing.
Vegetation fills a very important function in the carbon cycle, by absorbing 30 percent of human carbon dioxide emissions and therefore mitigating the effects of climate change. But due to deforestation, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing. A new study, published in the scientific journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, shows that the intensifying land use in the world's tropical areas is causing forests in, for example, the Amazon and Southeast Asia, to contribute much less to carbon dioxide uptake than was previously known.
"Climate change is affecting us all, and with this study we have increased our understanding of the impact of land use on the global carbon cycle”, says Torbern Tagesson, physical geography researcher at Lund University who led the study.
Read more at Lund University
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