It doesn't come as a total surprise, but a recent study by the Global Carbon Project and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research opened my eyes to the magnitude of the problem.

“Deforestation in the tropics accounts for nearly 20 per cent of carbon emissions due to human activities,” Dr Canadell says. “This will release an estimated 87 to 130 billion tonnes of carbon by 2100, which is greater than the amount of carbon that would be released by 13 years of global fossil fuel combustion. So maintaining forests as carbon sinks will make a significant contribution to stabilising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.”

As I see it, tropical deforestation is going to be a huge challenge in the coming decades. One of the slices of the Pacala and Socolow stabilization wedge paradigm hangs on reducing tropical deforestation to zero. This is going to cause significant consternation for policymakers and farmers around the world.