Editing Causes of climate change (section)

===Land surface changes===
{{Further|Climate change#Land surface changes}}
[[File:20210331 Global tree cover loss - World Resources Institute.svg|thumb |The rate of global tree cover loss has approximately doubled since 2001, to an annual loss approaching an area the size of Italy.<ref>{{cite news |ref={{harvid|World Resources Institute, 31 March|2021}}
 |last1=Butler |first1=Rhett A.
 |title=Global forest loss increases in 2020
 |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/global-forest-loss-increases-in-2020-but-pandemics-impact-unclear/
 |work=Mongabay
 |date=31 March 2021
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401022404/https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/global-forest-loss-increases-in-2020-but-pandemics-impact-unclear/
 |archive-date=1 April 2021
|url-status=live }} ● Data from {{cite web |title=Indicators of Forest Extent / Forest Loss |url=https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-extent-indicators/forest-loss |publisher=World Resources Institute |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527180607/https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-extent-indicators/forest-loss |archive-date=27 May 2024  |date=4 April 2024 |url-status=live }} Chart in section titled "Annual rates of global tree cover loss have risen since 2000".</ref>]]
According to [[Food and Agriculture Organization]], around 30% of Earth's land area is largely unusable for humans ([[glacier]]s, [[desert]]s, etc.), 26% is [[forest]]s, 10% is [[shrubland]] and 34% is [[agricultural land]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |last2=Roser |first2=Max |date=2024-02-16 |title=Land Use |url=https://ourworldindata.org/land-use |journal=Our World in Data}}</ref> [[Deforestation]] is the main [[land use change]] contributor to global warming,<ref>{{harvnb|The Sustainability Consortium, 13 September|2018}}; {{harvnb|UN FAO|2016|p=18}}.</ref> Between 1750 and 2007, about one-third  of anthropogenic [[carbon dioxide|{{CO2}}]] emissions were from changes in [[land use]] - primarily from the decline in forest area and the growth in agricultural land.<ref>{{citation |author=Solomon, S. |chapter-url=http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/tssts-2-1-1.html |chapter=TS.2.1.1 Changes in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Methane and Nitrous Oxide |title=Technical Summary |display-authors=etal |access-date=18 August 2012 |archive-date=15 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015132903/http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/tssts-2-1-1.html |url-status=dead}}, in {{Harvnb|IPCC AR4 WG1|2007}}.</ref> primarily [[deforestation]].<ref name="Technical Summary">{{citation |author=Solomon, S. |title=Technical Summary |url=http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ts.html |display-authors=etal |access-date=25 September 2011 |archive-date=28 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128003303/http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ts.html |url-status=live }}, in {{Harvnb|IPCC AR4 WG1|2007}}. {{full citation needed|date=November 2012}}</ref> as the destroyed trees release {{CO2}}, and are not replaced by new trees, removing that [[carbon sink]].<ref name="SRCCL_SPM">{{cite book |title=[[Special Report on Climate Change and Land]] |chapter=Summary for Policymakers |chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2019/12/02_Summary-for-Policymakers_SPM.pdf |author=IPCC |author-link=IPCC |year=2019 |pages=3–34}}</ref> Between 2001 and 2018, 27% of deforestation was from permanent clearing to enable [[agricultural expansion]] for crops and livestock. Another 24% has been lost to temporary clearing under the [[shifting cultivation]] agricultural systems. 26% was due to [[logging]] for wood and derived products, and [[wildfire]]s have accounted for the remaining 23%.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Curtis |first1=Philip G. |last2=Slay |first2=Christy M. |last3=Harris |first3=Nancy L. |last4=Tyukavina |first4=Alexandra |last5=Hansen |first5=Matthew C. |date=2018-09-14 |title=Classifying drivers of global forest loss |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aau3445 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=361 |issue=6407 |pages=1108–1111 |doi=10.1126/science.aau3445 |pmid=30213911 |bibcode=2018Sci...361.1108C |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> Some forests have not been fully cleared, but were already degraded by these impacts. Restoring these forests also recovers their potential as a carbon sink.<ref name="Duchelle-2022">{{Cite book |author1=Garrett, L. |author2=Lévite, H. |author3=Besacier, C. |author4=Alekseeva, N. |author5=Duchelle, M. |url=https://doi.org/10.4060/cc2510en |title=The key role of forest and landscape restoration in climate action |publisher=FAO |year=2022 |isbn=978-92-5-137044-5 |location=Rome|doi=10.4060/cc2510en }}</ref>
[[File:1850-2019 Cumulative greenhouse gas emissions by region - bar chart - IPCC AR6 WG3 - Fig SPM.2b.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Cumulative land-use change contributions to {{CO2}} emissions, by region.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|Figure SPM.2b|date=November 2012}}]]
Local vegetation cover impacts how much of the sunlight gets reflected back into space ([[albedo]]), and how much [[evaporative cooling|heat is lost by evaporation]]. For instance, the change from a dark [[forest]] to grassland makes the surface lighter, causing it to reflect more sunlight. Deforestation can also modify the release of chemical compounds that influence clouds, and by changing wind patterns.<ref name="Seymour 2019">{{harvnb|World Resources Institute, 8 December|2019}}</ref> In tropic and temperate areas the net effect is to produce significant warming, and forest restoration can make local temperatures cooler.<ref name="Duchelle-2022"/> At latitudes closer to the poles, there is a cooling effect as forest is replaced by snow-covered (and more reflective) plains.<ref name="Seymour 2019" /> Globally, these increases in surface albedo have been the dominant direct influence on temperature from land use change. Thus, land use change to date is estimated to have a slight cooling effect.<ref name="IPCC Special Report: Climate change and Land p2-54">{{Harvnb|IPCC SRCCL Ch2|2019|p=172|ps=: "The global biophysical cooling alone has been estimated by a larger range of climate models and is −0.10 ± 0.14&nbsp;°C; it ranges from −0.57&nbsp;°C to +0.06°C&nbsp;... This cooling is essentially dominated by increases in surface albedo: historical land cover changes have generally led to a dominant brightening of land"}}</ref>
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====Livestock-associated emissions====
{{See also|Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture}}
[[File:World Emissions Intensity Of Agricultural Commodities (2021).svg|thumb|Meat from cattle and sheep have the highest emissions intensity of any agricultural commodity.]]
More than 18% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to livestock and livestock-related activities such as deforestation and increasingly fuel-intensive farming practices.<ref name="livestock">{{Cite book |last1=Steinfeld |first1=Henning |url=http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/library/key_pub/longshad/A0701E00.pdf |title=Livestock's Long Shadow |last2=Gerber |first2=Pierre |last3=Wassenaar |first3=Tom |last4=Castel |first4=Vincent |last5=Rosales |first5=Mauricio |last6=de Haan |first6=Cees |publisher=Food and Agricultural Organization of the U.N. |year=2006 |isbn=92-5-105571-8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625012113/http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/library/key_pub/longshad/A0701E00.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Specific attributions to the livestock sector include:
* 9% of global anthropogenic [[carbon dioxide]] emissions
* 35–40% of global anthropogenic [[methane emissions]] (chiefly due to [[enteric fermentation]] and [[manure]])
* 64% of global anthropogenic [[nitrous oxide]] emissions, chiefly due to [[fertilizer]] use.<ref name="livestock" />
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