Climate Facts: 12m hectares of forest destroyed yearly, says UN

The complexities of climate change and its associated jargon can make it difficult to digest. TheCable’s climate quick facts will help to demystify these climate concepts through easy-to-understand and straight-to-the-point explanations.

Here are some to keep at the tip of your fingers:

• Forests absorb carbon dioxide, and destroying the forest limits nature’s ability to keep emissions out of the atmosphere. According to the United Nations, approximately 12 million hectares of forest are destroyed every year.

• Nitrous Oxide is a greenhouse gas produced by farming practices and is released during fertilizer production and use. Nitrous oxide has increased by 18 percent in the last 100 years, according to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

• The acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by about 30 percent due to emissions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere being absorbed into the ocean, says NASA.

• Globally, 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all occurred in the 21st century, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the direct damage of climate change costs to health – excluding costs in agriculture and water sanitation is estimated to be between 2 to 4 billion dollars per year by 2030.