Page "Deforestation" Paragraph 16

Deforestation is a contributor to global warming, and is often cited as one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect.

Tropical deforestation is responsible for approximately 20 % of world greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change deforestation, mainly in tropical areas, could account for up to one-third of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.

But recent calculations suggest that carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation and forest degradation ( excluding peatland emissions ) contribute about 12 % of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions with a range from 6 to 17 %.< ref > Deforestation causes carbon dioxide to linger in the atmosphere.

As carbon dioxide accrues, it produces a layer in the atmosphere that traps radiation from the sun.

The radiation converts to heat which causes global warming, which is better known as the greenhouse effect.

Other plants remove carbon ( in the form of carbon dioxide ) from the atmosphere during the process of photosynthesis and release oxygen back into the atmosphere during normal respiration.

Only when actively growing can a tree or forest remove carbon over an annual or longer timeframe.

Both the decay and burning of wood releases much of this stored carbon back to the atmosphere.

In order for forests to take up carbon, the wood must be harvested and turned into long-lived products and trees must be re-planted.

Deforestation may cause carbon stores held in soil to be released.

Forests are stores of carbon and can be either sinks or sources depending upon environmental circumstances.

Mature forests alternate between being net sinks and net sources of carbon dioxide ( see carbon dioxide sink and carbon cycle ).

In deforested areas, the land heats up faster and reaches a higher temperature, leading to localized upward motions that enhance the formation of clouds and ultimately produce more rainfall.

However, according to the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, the models used to investigate remote responses to tropical deforestation showed a broad but mild temperature increase all through the tropical atmosphere.

The model predicted < 0. 2 ° C warming for upper air at 700 mb and 500 mb.

However, the model shows no significant changes in other areas besides the Tropics.

Though the model showed no significant changes to the climate in areas other than the Tropics, this may not be the case since the model has possible errors and the results are never absolutely definite.