Africa’s tropical land emitted more CO2 than the US in 2016, satellite data shows

Aug 20, 2019

A general view of the dried up Theewaterskloof dam near Cape Town, South Africa June 2, 2017. The dam supplies most of the city 's potable water. Picture taken June 2, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings - RC1C8B6517B0

Africa's emissions have been described as "unexpectedly large". Image: REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

Daisy Dunne

Science Writer, Carbon Brief

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The extent of CO2 emissions from tropical land in 2015 and 2016 in grammes of carbon per metre squared per year (gC/m2/yr). Dark blue shows regions that acted as carbon sinks while yellow shows regions that were net emitters of CO2. Hatching shows regions with lower relative uncertainty. Image: Supplementary Information, Palmer et al. (2019)

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