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.
Most Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) forest carbon offset projects significantly overstate their climate benefits, according to a new study published in Science.
Environment
Oct 9, 2025
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UK banks, energy giants and arms exporters are at the heart of one of the world's least-known human rights and environmental crises, our research has revealed.
Environment
Oct 8, 2025
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New research, based on forest fires in Australia, proves there is a significantly higher risk of large-scale flooding when major deforestation has occurred in catchment areas. The chance of large-scale flooding in a specific ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 8, 2025
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A new study by researchers at the European Commission's Joint Research Center reveals that the Amazon rainforest has just undergone its most devastating forest fire season in over two decades, which triggered record-breaking ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 8, 2025
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An analysis of forest-based projects funded through the sale of carbon credits shows that 10% of them may have a net warming effect on the climate because of the way they alter Earth's albedo, or how much sunlight is reflected ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 7, 2025
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Historically protected by cultural traditions, sacred forests are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic pressures, particularly in West Africa, where natural areas and wildlife populations have dwindled as human populations ...
Droughts have withered crops in Peru, fires have scorched the Amazon and hydroelectric dams in Ecuador have struggled to keep the lights on as rivers dry up. Scientists say the cause may lie high above the rainforest, where ...
Environment
Sep 30, 2025
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The EU said Tuesday it will seek a new one-year delay to sweeping anti-deforestation rules cheered by green groups but assailed by key trading partners from the United States to Indonesia.
Environment
Sep 23, 2025
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Brazil's Amazon rainforest has shrunk by an area as big as Spain over four decades and is nearing a dangerous tipping point, according to monitoring data released Monday.
Environment
Sep 15, 2025
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Deforestation is a well-known issue affecting biodiversity and carbon storage, but the fragmentation of forests is also a driving factor in the reduction of the world's biodiversity and carbon-storing abilities.
