Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026
07:27
Producing, Characterizing and Quantifying Biochar in the Woods Using Portable Flame Cap Kilns
Published on: January 5, 2024
Avoided deforestation as a greenhouse gas mitigation tool: economic issues
Brent Sohngen1, Robert H Beach, Kenneth Andrasko
1Dep. of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State Univ., 2120 Fyffe Rd., Columbus, OH 43210, USA. sohngen.1@osu.edu
Journal of Environmental Quality
|June 25, 2008
Summary
Tropical deforestation significantly contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) accumulation. This study models the costs of avoiding deforestation to reduce emissions, finding significant potential for carbon reduction at various price points.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Climate Change Research
- Forestry and Land Use Analysis
Background:
- Tropical deforestation is a major source of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs), contributing up to 25% of global anthropogenic emissions.
- Limited data exists on the economic costs associated with implementing incentives to prevent deforestation and reduce carbon emissions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the marginal costs of reducing net carbon emissions by avoiding tropical deforestation.
- To estimate the potential land-use changes resulting from carbon incentive programs.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a global forestry and land use model to simulate emission reduction scenarios.
- Estimated marginal costs for different levels of emission reductions over 30-50 years.
Main Results:
- Potential emissions reductions range from 0.1 Pg C yr(-1) at $5 per Mg C to 1.6 Pg C yr(-1) at $100 per Mg C.
- Carbon incentives could lead to substantial land-use changes, with 3 million to 422 million additional hectares of forestland by 2055, depending on the carbon price.
Conclusions:
- Avoiding tropical deforestation offers a cost-effective strategy for significant GHG mitigation.
- The study provides crucial data on the economic and land-use implications of carbon pricing for tropical forest conservation.
Related Concept Videos
01:27Microbes and Climate Change
Microorganisms are pivotal agents in Earth's biogeochemical cycles, significantly influencing climate dynamics through their metabolic activities. These microbes modulate the levels of key greenhouse gases by both contributing to and helping mitigate climate change.Microbial Contributions to Greenhouse Gas EmissionsRising global temperatures accelerate microbial metabolism, which, in turn, speeds up the decomposition of organic matter. This process releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) through...
01:50Global Climate Change
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
01:14The Carbon Cycle
Carbon is the basis of all organic matter on Earth, and is recycled through the ecosystem in two primary processes: one in which carbon is exchanged among living organisms, and one in which carbon is cycled over long periods of time through fossilized organic remains, weathering of rocks, and volcanic activity. Human activities, including increased agricultural practices and the burning of fossil fuels, has greatly affected the balance of the natural carbon cycle.
01:50Threats to Biodiversity
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
01:43Sustainable Development
As the human population continues to grow and use resources, we must be mindful of our planet’s natural limits. Sustainable development provides a pathway to maintain and improve human life now while also ensuring that future generations will have the resources that they need. The long-term success of sustainability efforts rests on understanding the interplay between human actions and ecological systems.
01:57Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss
Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.