Data Activity - Topic 2.3 - Forests as Carbon Stores
Human activities such as cutting down forests are disrupting the balance of the carbon cycle, releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases and contributing to climate change. This activity asks you to consider data relating to deforestation around the world.
NOTE: This activity is also available as a PDF.
Though its rate has been declining, deforestation remains a problem. One of the direct causes of deforestation is agricultural expansion, with forests being converted to cropland and pasture in order to grow crops and raise livestock, infrastructure expansion resulting from urbanisation, as well as logging – both illegal and legal.
The map below shows the top 10 countries in the world (in 2023) contributing CO2 emissions due to deforestation (in Tg/year). NOTE that Tg stands for teragram − 1 Tg is equal to 1,000,000,000 kilograms.
Source: Land Use - Global Carbon Atlas
The circles shown in the map above indicate the relative amount of CO2 emissions by the top 10 contributing countries. The data used to prepare the map is given in the table below.
Rank | Country | TgC/year | Population |
1 | Brazil | 330 | 216,422,446 |
2 | Indonesia | 217 | 277,534,122 |
3 | Dem Rep of Congo | 193 | 102,262,808 |
4 | Myanmar | 61 | 54,577,997 |
5 | China | 47 | 1,425,671,352 |
6 | USA | 44 | 339,996,563 |
7 | Tanzania | 34 | 67,438,106 |
8 | Colombia | 34 | 52,085,168 |
9 | Philippines | 34 | 117,337,368 |
10 | Côte d'Ivoire | 32 | 28,873,034 |
1. If the world's total CO2 emissions were 3,683 TgC in 2023, calculate:
(a) the percentage contribution of Brazil to this total.
(b) the percentage contribution of Côte d'Ivoire to this total.
2. One way we could look at different countries' contributions is to determine their contribution per capita. Both Colombia and the Philippines contribute 34 Tg/year. Calculate:
(a) Colombia's per capita contribution.
(b) Philippines's per capita contribution.
3. Another way we could look at different countries' contributions is to determine their contribution per km (land area). Again let's look at Colombia and the Philippines which both contribute 34 Tg/year. Given the land area of Colombia is 1,109,500 km2 and the land area of the Philippines is 298,170 km2, calculate:
(a) Colombia's per km2 contribution.
(b) Philippines' per km2 contribution.
4. Using the data in the table and the calculations you have done, complete the following statements:
(a) Brazil's contribution to global total CO2 emissions is _____ times that of Côte d'Ivoire.
(b) The per capita contribution of Colombia is _____ times that of the Philippines.
(c) The per km2 contribution of Colombia is _____ times that of the Philippines.
5. Explain which of the following methods of comparing countries is most appropriate:
(a) raw Tg/year
(b) kg per capita.
(c) kg per km2 (that is per each country's land area).
There is some positive news! Some countries are contributing negative amounts of CO2 each year. The top ten negative contributors are given below.
| Rank | Country | Tg/year |
| 10 | Spain | -3 |
| 9 | Italy | -3 |
| 8 | South Korea | -3 |
| 7 | Czech Rep. | -3 |
| 6 | Slovakia | -4 |
| 5 | Germany | -6 |
| 4 | Poland | -6 |
| 3 | France | -11 |
| 2 | India | -26 |
| 1 | China | -63 |
1. Explain how a country can have a negative CO2 contribution.
2. Calculate whether the top ten negative contributors cancel out the top ten positive contributors.
3. Draw a system diagram to show China's forests as a store and another for Brazil's forests. Identify which is a source and which is a sink.