Book Review - Carbon sinks and climate change: forests in the fight against global warming, C.A. Hunt, Edward Elgar, 2009, 236 pages, ISBN 978-1-84720-977-1

Forests play a very significant role in the global carbon cycle, having absorbed approximately one third of recent anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere (Streck et al. 2008). However, human activities in forests have also become an important source of carbon emissions, with deforestation contributing to about one fifth of the annual anthropogenic total. Humans contribute to CO2 emissions in two ways - through burning fossil-fuels and converting forestlands to other uses. Initially, land-use changes (deforestation) were the principle source of carbon emissions. However, starting in the 20th century, fossil-fuel emissions have increased rapidly, while emissions due to deforestation have gradually declined. Therefore, one way to address the issue of increasing carbon emissions and climate change is to maintain and increase the stock of sustainably managed forests.