Global tree losses are at a record high after 2016’s droughts, high temperatures, and forest fires, contributing to the destruction of more than 73.4 million acres, according to Global Forest Watch, or GFW.
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“We see a massive increase in tree cover loss in 2016, and, from what we have seen, it seems like the main reason for the increase is a proliferation of forest fires both in the tropics and other parts of the world,” GFW research analyst Mikaela Weisse said.
In 2016, worldwide tree cover losses rose 51 percent as compared to the 297,000 square kilometers in the previous year, according to data from the University of Maryland compiled by GFW.
A total of 9.1 million acres were destroyed of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, a place where fires are usually a result of human intervention, Weisse said.
“Part of the fires that we are seeing are natural, but really a lot is from this human element that we need to get under control. We need to do a better job of managing the fires that are set on the landscape,” said Weisse, adding that the large number of fires is not a natural part of the ecosystem.
The issue is only likely to grow as temperatures continue to rise, affecting the intensity and number of fires, the environmental expert said, predicting fires will catch in areas normally free of flames, while in more common zones fires will spark faster and more frequently.
Disasters like those in California and Portugal are only the beginning. “Areas that have been burned are more likely to burn again now that they’ve been thinned out,” Weisse said. “There’s more sunlight hitting the forest floor, so that kind of causes a chain reaction or a positive feedback loop.”
Droughts as a result of El Niño in parts of Asia have also contributed to wildfires and consequently, higher volumes of carbon dioxide emissions. Fires in Indonesia consumed close to a million hectares of trees in 2015.
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The dry spells, fires, and high carbon emissions which often follow the tropical phenomenon created a stressful environment for the plants in those regions, making it more difficult for them to filter carbon from the air, a NASA report said.
Researchers say reducing deforestation and enforcing a ban on man-made fires during dry spells could lower the risk of fires. Fire-sensors could also assist in controlling and preventing the spread of fires.
A project led by the organization Conservation International aims to reverse the damage done. According to Fast Company, the environmental group plans to restore 70,000 acres of the natural coverage in the Brazilian states Amazonas, Acre, Para, Rondonia, and Xingua in the largest tropical reforestation project in history.
“If the world is to hit the 1.2°C or 2°C target that we all agreed to in Paris, then protecting tropical forests, in particular, has to be a big part of that,” M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International, told Fast Company. “It’s not just the trees that matter, but what kind of trees. If you’re really thinking about getting carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, then tropical forests are the ones that end up mattering the most.”
The initiative aims to bring Brazil closer to honoring the goal instituted by the Paris Agreement which demands 12 million hectares of forest land restored by 2030.