Contrasting climate and carbon-cycle consequences of fossil-fuel use versus deforestation disturbance

Carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation disturbance (e.g. clear-cutting, forest fires) are in the same units as carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. However, if the forest is allowed to regrow, there is a large difference between climate effects of that forest disturbance and climate effects of fossil CO2. In this study, using a set of idealized global climate-carbon model simulations with equal amounts of CO2 emissions, we show that on century to millennial timescales the response of the climate system to fossil-fuel burning versus deforestation disturbance are vastly different. We performed two 1000 year simulations where we add abrupt emissions of about 600 PgC to the preindustrial state as a consequence of either fossil fuel use or deforestation disturbance with vegetation regrowth. In the fossil fuel simulations, after 1000 years, about 20% of the initial atmospheric CO2 concentration perturbation remains in the atmosphere and the climate is about 1 degrees C warmer compared to preindustrial state. In contrast, in the case of deforestation with regrowth, after 1000 years, atmospheric CO2 concentration returns close to preindustrial values, because deforested land will typically recover its carbon over the decades and centuries in the absence of further human intervention. These results highlight the differences in the degree of long-term commitment associated with fossil-fuel versus deforestation emissions.

Automated summary

There are significant differences in the climate effects of carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation disturbance and fossil fuel burning. Forest regrowth can lead to a return of atmospheric CO2 concentration to preindustrial levels, while fossil fuel emissions can result in long-term warming and a higher atmospheric CO2 concentration.