How do ecosystems affect atmospheric carbon? It turns out they keep the atmosphere in balance more than one might think.

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This video is based on the writing of Charles Eisenstein. Visit Charles' Website for more related content: https://www.charleseisenstein.org/
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Sources:

Deforestation's effect on atmospheric CO2:
Rosa, Isabel M.D., et al. The Environmental Legacy of Modern Tropical Deforestation. 2016. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)30625-X

The contribution of land-use changes to atmospheric CO2:
Arneth, A., Sitch, S., Pongratz, J. et al. Historical carbon dioxide emissions caused by land-use changes are possibly larger than assumed. 2017. https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo2882

Atmospheric CO2 has been rising slower than expected in emissions-centric models:
Keenan, Trevor F et al. Recent pause in the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 due to enhanced terrestrial carbon uptake. 2016. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13428

45.8% of trees have been cut down:
Crowther, T., Glick, H., Covey, K. et al. Mapping tree density at a global scale. 2015. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14967

Wetlands have declined by 57%:
Davidson, Nick. How much wetland has the world lost? Long-term and recent trends in a global wetland area. 2014. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266388496_How_much_wetland_has_the_world_lost_Long-term_and_recent_trends_in_global_wetland_area

80% of the seagrass meadows on the New England coast are gone:
Beem, Nora & Short, Frederick., Subtidal Eelgrass Declines in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire, and Maine, USA. 2009. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226257090_Subtidal_Eelgrass_Declines_in_the_Great_Bay_Estuary_New_Hampshire_and_Maine_USA