LOS ANGELES, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Deforestation plays a critical role in climate change, therefore avoiding deforestation can help reduce future greenhouse gas concentrations, according to a new study.

Tropical deforestation releases 1.5 billion tons of carbon each year into the atmosphere, said the study conducted by a team of scientists from the United States, Britain, Brazil and France.

"Deforestation in the tropics accounts for nearly 20 percent of carbon emissions due to human activities," said Dr Pep Canadell, a U.S. atmospheric researcher who took part in the study.

"This will release an estimated 87 to 130 billion tons of carbon by 2100, which is greater than the amount of carbon that would be released by 13 years of global fossil fuel combustion," he said.

He called for efforts to maintain forests as carbon sinks will make a significant contribution to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.

In the first study of its kind, the scientists compared data from 11 climate-carbon computer models. The results show that tropical forests continue to accumulate carbon through to the end of the century, although they may become less efficient at higher temperatures.

The study, published in the May issue of the Journal of Science, said "the new body of information shows considerable value in preserving tropical forests such as those in the Amazon and Indonesia as carbon sinks, that they do not release the carbon back into the atmosphere as has been suggested."

Reducing deforestation is just one of a portfolio of mitigation options needed to reduce concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, said Canadell.

"Globally, we need a range of actions to reduce the build up of carbon in the atmosphere," Canadell said.