Motor vehicles emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere, and cause worldwide temperatures to rise. According to the EPA, transportation accounts for almost 30 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, making it the largest contributor of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Cars and trucks are responsible for nearly 75% of those emissions. Worldwide, road transport accounts for over 15% of total CO2 emissions. 

Deforestation also causes climate change. Tropical deforestation alone contributes about 20% of annual global greenhouse gas. While rainforests once covered 14% of the Earth’s land surface, they now cover less than 5%. Every day, more than 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned. That means that more than 150 acres are lost every minute, every day, which adds up to 78 million acres of forest lost every year. At that rate, the remaining rainforests could be destroyed in less than 40 years.

According to the Environmental Defense Fund, “China and the U.S. are the world’s number one and two emitters, but numbers three and four are Indonesia and Brazil, with 80% and 70% of their emissions respectively from deforestation.”  The leading causes of deforestation are economic and include agricultural expansion, wood extraction (logging/ wood harvest for domestic fuel or charcoal), and urbanization/ infrastructure development.

With fewer trees to absorb these harmful gases, the earth's atmosphere heats up even more quickly. Wet areas become wetter and dry areas drier. These higher temperatures cause more storms, floods, heat waves, and droughts that can lead to fires, habitat destruction, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and displacement and lack of resources for indigenous people.

As World Resource Institute has said:  “The world’s poorest communities often live on the most fragile land, and they are often politically, socially, and economically marginalized, making them especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.”

Reducing emissions, slowing deforestation and supporting reforestation are all crucial steps towards combatting these problems.

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Sources: EPA, EDF, Our World in Data.