Five new estimates of global net annual emissions of carbon from land use and land-use change collectively describe a gradually increasing trend in emissions, from ∼0.6 PgC yr−1 in 1850 to ∼1.3 PgC yr−1 in the period 1950–2005, with an annual range that varies between ±0.2 and ±0.4 PgC yr−1 of the mean. All estimates agree in the upward trend from 1850 to ∼1950 but not thereafter. In recent decades, when rates of land-use change and biomass density should be better known than in the past, the estimates are more variable. Most analyses have used three quasi-independent estimates of land-use change that are based on national and international agricultural and forestry data of limited accuracy in many countries. Further, the estimates of biomass used in the analyses have a common but limited literature base, which fails to address the spatial variability of biomass density within ecosystems. In contrast to the sources of information that have been used to date, a combination of existing ground and remote sensing data are available to determine with far higher accuracy rates of land-use change, aboveground biomass density, and, hence, the net flux of carbon from land use and land-use change.
How well do we know the flux of CO2 from land-use change?
Published 2010 in Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2010
- Venue
Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology
- Publication date
2010-01-01
- Fields of study
Environmental Science
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
CONCEPTS
- agricultural and forestry data
National and international statistics on land use from agricultural and forestry sectors, identified here as the primary but limited-accuracy inputs used in existing carbon flux estimates.
Aliases: national agricultural data, forestry statistics
- biomass density
The amount of aboveground plant biomass per unit area within ecosystems, used here as a key input parameter for estimating carbon emissions from land-use change.
Aliases: aboveground biomass density
- carbon emissions from land-use change
The global net annual flux of carbon to the atmosphere resulting from land use and land-use change activities, estimated here across five independent modeling approaches.
Aliases: land-use carbon flux, net carbon flux from land use
- land-use change
The conversion of land from one use to another, such as forest clearing for agriculture, which drives the carbon emissions analyzed in this paper.
Aliases: LUC, land use change
- remote sensing data
Satellite or aerial observation data proposed here as a means to measure land-cover change and aboveground biomass at spatial scales relevant to carbon flux estimation.
Aliases: satellite data
REFERENCES
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