African Rainforests will suffer from a totally new climate of unprecedented heat from 2025 onwards with staggering consequences for all life on Earth.
The most intact rainforests cover 6 countries. This 2013 study projects years of & #39;climate departure& #39; on our current high emissions path:

Equatorial Guinea 2024
Gabon 2024
Cameroon 2025
Central African Republic 2028
DR Congo 2028
Republic of the Congo 2028 https://twitter.com/ClimateBen/status/1185196406233030656?s=20">https://twitter.com/ClimateBe...
Central Africa is experiencing the highest acceleration in deforestation of any region on Earth.

The forests of the Congo Basin face myriad threats:

industrial agriculture

proliferating road networks

new oil and gas exploration

a regional drying trend https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/rainforests-in-2020-10-things-to-watch/?__twitter_impression=true">https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/r...
Rainforests in 2020: 10 things to watch

https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/rainforests-in-2020-10-things-to-watch/?__twitter_impression=true
& #39;The outlook for Central and West Africa& #39;s rainforests is not promising.& #39;

& #39;Logging roads are opening vast areas of forest to colonists and poachers. Numerous infrastructure projects have been initiated by foreign companies.& #39;

https://rainforests.mongabay.com/20afrotropical.htm">https://rainforests.mongabay.com/20afrotro...
Mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds are likely to disappear on a catastrophic scale in African ecosysterms when temperatures go over 1.5C later in the 2020s. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/14/worlds-great-forests-could-lose-half-of-all-wildlife-as-planet-warms-report">https://www.theguardian.com/environme...
World’s great forests could lose half of all wildlife as planet warms – report

From the Amazon to Africa, WWF report predicts catastrophic losses of as much as 60% of plants and 50% of animals by the end of the century

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/14/worlds-great-forests-could-lose-half-of-all-wildlife-as-planet-warms-report
The IPCC says the world won& #39;t achieve critical emissions reductions goals without stopping deforestation, but governments and corporations are driving the destruction of more trees so rapidly that rainforests are beginning to hit tipping points. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13092019/forest-loss-rate-global-deforestation-amazon-fires-corporate-agribusiness-international-declaration?amp&__twitter_impression=true&amp=&__twitter_impression=true">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/1309...
Deforestation Is Getting Worse, 5 Years After Countries and Companies

As fires in the Amazon draw attention to the problem, critics say big agribusinesses aren't doing enough to stop deforestation in their supply chains.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13092019/forest-loss-rate-global-deforestation-amazon-fires-corporate-agribusiness-international-declaration?amp&__twitter_impression=true&amp=&__twitter_impression=true
The world’s second-largest rainforest plays a role in regulating rainfall patterns across other parts of Africa.

& #39;Its continued disappearance could exacerbate insecurity of freshwater and food supplies for some of Africa’s most vulnerable populations.& #39; https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/07/congo-basin-deforestation-threatens-food-and-water-supplies-throughout-africa">https://www.wri.org/blog/2019...
Congo Basin Deforestation Threatens Food and Water Supplies

Deforestation rates in the Congo Basin — historically lower than in the Amazon and southeast Asia — are on the rise. It's not just a problem for the 80 million people who rely on the forests for food

https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/07/congo-basin-deforestation-threatens-food-and-water-supplies-throughout-africa
"This carbon sink is turning off far earlier than even the most pessimistic of these climate models". https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⚠️" title="Warning sign" aria-label="Emoji: Warning sign">

By 2030, the African jungle will absorb 14% less carbon dioxide than it did 10 to 15 years ago. By 2035, Amazonian trees won’t absorb any CO2 at all. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/the-congo-rainforest-is-losing-its-ability-to-absorb-carbon-dioxide-thats-bad-for-climate-change/">https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-wo...
The Congo rainforest is losing its ability to absorb carbon dioxide. That’s bad for climate change.

Scientists have determined that trees in the Congo Basin of central Africa are losing their capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, raising alarms about the health of the world's second-largest contiguous...

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/the-congo-rainforest-is-losing-its-ability-to-absorb-carbon-dioxide-thats-bad-for-climate-change/
“Releasing this carbon into the atmosphere through continuing deforestation not only commits us to the worst impacts of climate change, but also results in the loss of a globally important carbon sink." https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/12/congo-basin-swamps-peatlands-carbon-climate-change">https://www.theguardian.com/environme...
Congo basin’s peaty swamps are new front in climate change battle

Ancient peatlands that store huge amounts of carbon are under threat from logging

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/12/congo-basin-swamps-peatlands-carbon-climate-change
& #39;Satellite data indicate the Congo Basin lost an area of forest larger than Bangladesh between 2000 and 2014.& #39; https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/congo-basin-rainforest-may-be-gone-by-2100-study-finds/">https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/c...
Congo Basin rainforest may be gone by 2100, study finds

https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/congo-basin-rainforest-may-be-gone-by-2100-study-finds/
Elephants, gorillas, and large herbivores keep the density of small trees very low through predation, reducing competition for large trees. But in areas where these animals have been depleted by hunting, forests tend to be shorter + denser with small trees. https://rainforests.mongabay.com/congo/ ">https://rainforests.mongabay.com/congo/&qu...
The Congo Rainforest

The Congo Rainforest: facts, figures, charts, images, and background information

https://rainforests.mongabay.com/congo/
The extra carbon in African forests comes from trees being larger; the average diameter of a tree in an African rainforest is 1.5 times larger than that of a tree in the Amazon. Trees in African rainforests are also taller than their Amazonian counterparts. https://theconversation.com/africas-rainforests-are-different-why-it-matters-that-theyre-protected-77203">https://theconversation.com/africas-r...
Africa's rainforests are different. Why it matters that they're protected

It's crucial to know the relationship between biodiversity and carbon storage to assess whether carbon-focused conservation will also protect the most biodiverse forests.

https://theconversation.com/africas-rainforests-are-different-why-it-matters-that-theyre-protected-77203
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