Africa's forests have switched from absorbing to emitting carbon (phys.org)

> The losses are concentrated in tropical moist broadleaf forests in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, and parts of West Africa, driven by deforestation and forest degradation

If I read this correctly: No, forests are not suddenly emitting carbon. People are just felling enough trees and treating them badly enough, that their forests are now dying faster than they are regrowing

Forests in their equilibrium state are not carbon sinks, they're mostly carbon neutral. So it doesn't really take much to go from "slight carbon sink" to "slight carbon emitter".

In 2010, Africa’s total population was estimated at about ~1.07 billion.

By 2025, the population is estimated at roughly ~1.53 billion.

That means the continent has seen an increase of abou 450-500 million people over merely 15 years! (~44% increase!)

No wonder the forests are disappearing. Without strict birth control and population planning, things will continue to become worse.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314546723_Populatio...

PS: Projected population is over 2.5 billion by 2050!

If they switched to carbon emission in a significant way, it must be an evolutionary response to some trigger. How does this response help forests? Does it increase production of leaf or seeds to compensate for logging? What chemical process is releasing carbon from trees?

is this terminilogy as a "source of carbon" used widely ? because it doesn't seem the loss of forests somehow actively increases CO2

[dead]

How exactly are forests absorbing carbon?

Shouldn’t this carbon be released when the tree eventually dies and decomposes? I’d expect it to be carbon neutral over its lifespan?

Next MAGA talking point- the trees are killing us!