What influence do forests have on the greenhouse effect?
Without growing forests, atmospheric CO^₂ levels would rise even faster than now. It has been calculated that growing forests absorb 900 million tonnes of carbon on an annual basis (equivalent to 3.3 billion tonnes of CO^₂). Without these growing forests, the net global emissions of CO^₂ would rise from 11.7 to 15 billion tonnes; almost 30% more. Therefore, deforestation can be said to contribute to 25% of the increase in atmospheric CO^₂.