Climate Change & Deforestation
Forests
Whenever we think of a forest, we imagine trees. But a forest is a much more complex ecosystem with a web of countless interactions between trees, animals, microorganisms, air land and water. There are three general types of forests in the world, namely, temperate, tropical, and boreal. Boreal forests grow in northern hemisphere where temperature is low. Temperate forests are found in the region between tropical and northern and southern poles and they go through four seasons. Tropical forests are evergreen forests, receives high rainfall and located in a band around the equator. These forests are incredibly high in biodiversity.
Forests and Climate
All these forests play a crucial role in Earth’s climate system. Earth’s climate is an extremely complex process. Climate scientists constantly collect data and create climate models that can help explain and predict climate phenomena. One thing we do know for sure about this system is that the climate system is extremely sensitive to its carbon cycle. There are two forms to carbon cycle; slow and fast. Earth crust, atmosphere, ocean and living matter act as carbon reservoirs by storing Earth’s carbon in different forms as a result of either slow or fast carbon cycle. Each of these reservoirs can exchange carbon with one another. Any activity that drives out carbon from one reservoir will add carbon to another reservoir. This carbon exchange is unnecessarily interfered by us, humans. One of such things we do is fossil fuel burning. This takes carbon stored in the earth’s crust by slow carbon cycle and releases that carbon into the atmosphere in the form of CO2, the famous greenhouse gas.
Guardians of the Earth
For a long time, our activities lead to release of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere at unprecedented rates, causing global warming. Climate change is nature’s way of alarming us that we should be more cautious with our actions. But what is the role of forests in all of this? Forests act as carbon sinks, drawing down atmospheric carbon dioxide, converting them into living biomass and storing that carbon for a long time period. This carbon capture mechanism is a part of the fast carbon cycle. Currently, they absorb approximately one-third of CO2 emission caused by fossil fuel burning each year, delaying catastrophic climate impacts caused by global warming. Clearly, forests are in Earth’s first line of defense against climate change.
Deforestation and Reforestation
Why is deforestation bad? This is not a very difficult question to find answers. Fossil fuels are made through a very slow carbon capture and storage mechanism which took millions of years. Burning fossil fuels releases CO2 to the atmosphere at unprecedented rates. Our climate-disaster-clock is ticking, so we don’t have another million years to remove that CO2 from the atmosphere. Deforestation simply removes our biggest natural ally that can capture those CO2 and store them back on the ground in the fastest way possible. This is why deforestation is really, really bad. On the other hand, removing forest cover makes things even worse. Most of the trees cut down are either burnt or left to degrade, which again releases CO2 to the atmosphere.
While logging, developments as well as natural causes such as wildfires cause a massive damage to the forest ecosystem, the leading cause of deforestation at a global scale is identified as agriculture; both animal and plant. With the rising population, conventional farming methods require more and more land for growing crops and feeding livestock in order to meet the demand for food.
According to 2020 Global Forest Resource Assessment of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Global forest coverage is decreasing but at lower rates. This is good but not enough. Restoring forests is vital to draw down excess CO2 in atmosphere. So, we need to get to zero deforestation, sustainably manage existing forests, engage in reforestation to restore degraded land and implement better alternatives to meet the demand for forest products (e.g.: tree farms to get lumber). These methods are included as global forest goals in United Nation Strategic Plan for Forests 2030.
The Value of Tropical Rainforests
Forests cover 31% of the land globally. Among all forest types, tropical forests take most of the attention in climate change mitigation. 45% of all forest lands fall into tropical forest domain. These forests are evergreen, therefore absorbs atmospheric carbon throughout the year. There are various types of tropical forests. Out of all these types, tropical rainforests receive a good portion of attention. Tropical rainforests cover only 7% of global land area. Not only they support more than 50% of all plant and animal species on Earth but provide livelihoods for millions of people while playing a crucial role in the water cycle.
Every now and then, deforestation of Sri Lankan forests comes into the focus of discussion, most recent one being the deforestation of Sinharaja rainforest. These issues seem to be short-lived in public’s spotlight when other important and unimportant problems are dumped on us. While all the problems pile up, we have to keep in the back of our minds that we have a right and a responsibility to stand up against deforestation of last precious forestry areas in our country.
How Can Individuals Contribute?
Fight against deforestation begins at individual’s level. While small steps such as planting trees will go a long way, being mindful consumers is the biggest contribution we can do as individuals. Various scientific studies have shown that animal-based products put more strain on the environment than plant-based ones. Reducing meat and dairy consumption as much as possible and moving towards a plant-based diet significantly reduces the carbon footprint of individuals, which simultaneously reduces the strain on world’s forests. If you have the luxury to visit local farmers’ market or grow fresh vegetables and fruits in your backyard, you can not only lower your carbon footprint but live a much healthier life.
As consumers, we have the privilege to be demanding for better products with less environmental impacts. As citizens, we have the right to be demand our governments to take more meaningful actions towards conserving forests. As individuals in a community, we have the responsibility to spread awareness about climate change, deforestation and the need to be a part of the movement against them.
Cheers to FYFA Volunteers! They have started a massive forestation project of 1200 acres in Welikanda, Kawudagala monastery. Check out their social media to find ways you can contribute.
