Deforestation is the large-scale, often permanent removal of forest cover, typically through logging, burning, or land conversion for agriculture, infrastructure, or resource extraction, resulting in the reduction or fragmentation of forest ecosystems. As a research topic, it encompasses quantifying forest loss using remote sensing and geospatial analysis, assessing impacts on carbon stocks, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, hydrological cycles, and soil integrity, and examining social-ecological drivers such as governance, commodity markets, and land-use policies. Deforestation studies also investigate feedbacks to climate systems, resilience thresholds, and the effectiveness of interventions including protected areas, certification schemes, and zero-deforestation supply-chain commitments.
Rice, maize, and cassava crops cumulatively account for approximately 11% of total global deforestation—exceeding that of cocoa, coffee, and rubber—according to an analysis between 2001 and 2022, published in Nature Food. ...
Environment
Feb 23, 2026
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A team of scientists led by the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ), and Leipzig University has developed a new method to track Earth's greenness—a ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 23, 2026
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Researchers at ETH Zurich have now discovered for the first time that large blackwater lakes in the extensive peatlands of the central Congo Basin are releasing ancient carbon. To date, climate researchers had assumed that ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 23, 2026
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Forest loss does more than reduce tree cover. A new global study involving UBC Okanagan researchers shows it can fundamentally change how watersheds hold and release water. The research, published in the Proceedings of the ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 19, 2026
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Researchers from the University of British Columbia argue that a widely used method to understand and predict flood risk has led scientists to miscalculate how forests can prevent major flooding. The paper, published in Ambio, ...
Environment
Feb 19, 2026
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Permits revoked, lawsuits filed, the threat of state takeovers. Deadly flooding in Indonesia has prompted unprecedented government action against companies accused of environmental destruction that worsened the disaster.
Environment
Feb 19, 2026
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Vast stretches of a once-verdant acacia forest south of Sudan's capital Khartoum have been reduced to little more than fields of stumps as nearly three years of conflict have fueled deforestation.
Ecology
Feb 19, 2026
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Frank Cuozzo and Michelle Sauther first traveled to South Africa in 2012 to search for some of the most unusual primates on Earth—bushbabies. These animals are nocturnal and small, often around the size of a housecat. Bushbabies ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 17, 2026
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Tropical forests help to generate vast amounts of rainfall each year, adding weight to arguments for protecting them as water and climate pressures increase, say researchers. A new study led by the University of Leeds has ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 17, 2026
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Deforestation in the Amazon is causing significant regional changes in climate compared to areas with forest cover above 80%. The loss of vegetation leads to an increase in surface temperature, a decrease in evapotranspiration, ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 16, 2026
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