Impact of Deforestation on Climate Change and Sustainability ———
Author: Eashtha Dediwela
Over 78,000,000 acres (15 billion trees (approx.)) of rainforests are being burned annually; this is equal to 200,000 acres of land (41 million trees) being burned every day, 150 acres every minute. Clearing land for a specific purpose or intention (e.g. urbanization, farming, manufacturing, construction, and obtaining wood for fuel) that alters the landscape is known as deforestation. Deforestation also includes the slashing and burning of trees. It is a phenomenon that occurs globally – 10 million hectares (approx.) of global forest cover (an area equivalent to the size of Portugal) is deforested annually. 95% of all deforestation occurs in the tropics and agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, accounting for 70 - 80% of tropical deforestation.
Brazil (a country that has the second highest forested land area in the world after Russia) and Indonesia account for the majority of global deforestation annually due to the expansion of beef, soy, and palm oil production plants. Additionally, primary forests are being converted to tree plantations for paper and pulp production. While humans have been deforesting the land for millennia, 50% of global forest loss occurred between 8,000 BCE and 1900. The other 50% was lost in the last century. Over the last 300 years, Earth has lost 1.5 billion hectares of its forested area. This is equivalent to an area 1.5 times the size of the United States.
The Need for Deforestation/Drivers of Deforestation
The negative aspects of deforestation are spoken about most often. To some, deforestation may seem necessary and the only way forward. Take the rising global population for instance. The world population is expected to increase to 9.7 billion by 2050.
This comes with its challenges such as the dire need for more space as more and more people are crammed into small spaces. Additionally, increasing numbers of people move into towns and cities (urbanization) in search of better jobs and education with the hope of improving their wages and standard of living. This leads to the expansion of city boundaries/limits which often involves eating into forested land and cutting down trees. Rising global populations lead to the creation of new settlements, towns, and cities in once-forested land. This also involves deforestation.
Additionally, as increasing numbers of family-oriented people move into peri-urban areas which are assumed to be more suitable for raising families, trees are cut down to make way for housing, education institutions, and employment opportunities.
With the expansion of city limits and the creation of new settlements comes the need for higher levels of connectivity in terms of transportation. Infrastructure such as roads, highways, and railways are constructed to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. This also provides access to once inaccessible land and promotes the development of these areas. Trees are deforested to make way for infrastructure developments. For instance, one of the main reasons Brazil has lost over 16 million hectares of land over the last twenty years is urbanization and agriculture. Most of this deforestation occurred in the Amazon region.
The increase in global population and subsequent urbanization leads to an increase in demand for resources, especially in terms of agriculture (especially soybeans, palm oil, wood, mining, logging, oil, gas, and mineral extraction) and wooden products (used to manufacture paper and furniture) which has significantly contributed to deforestation. Deforestation is a common occurrence in the resource-curse phenomenon where resource-rich countries face higher economic, social, political, and sustainability challenges in comparison to countries with fewer resources. Large areas of forests are deforested to provide access to revenue-generating resources which are exported to countries with fewer resources.
Industrial sites that manufacture these resources are expanded which also leads to deforestation as more forested land is cleared to make way for the manufacturing plants. Electricity generation from biomass is the main method of powering these settlements and factories in most areas. This is another driver of deforestation associated with urbanization. In Indonesia, deforestation (occurring mostly in peatlands) due to palm oil production is a common occurrence as the country is the world’s largest producer of palm oil. In 2023, 30,000 hectares of forest were cleared to facilitate palm oil plantations. Although this is a decline from 227,000 hectares (an area twice the size of Los Angeles, USA) in 2012, the trend seems to have increased over the last two years (as 22,00 hectares were deforested in 2022).
Agricultural expansion (farming, logging, fuelwood, and livestock grazing) is another key factor for and leading cause of deforestation, accounting for over 70% of global deforestation. Subsistence farming (that out often involves the clearance of small plots of land for farming) and large-scale farms (involving the clearance of large plots of land to make way for large-scale production of cash crops - e.g. soy and beef) are both responsible for deforestation.
The practice of monoculture and over-grazing leads to soil degradation which leads to the acquisition of more (fertile) land that is deforested to facilitate a repetition of activities (grazing, pastureland, and plantations). Vast areas of forested land in South America have been deforested to facilitate soy plantations - a key ingredient in livestock feed. Due to increased demand for beef, cattle ranching (for beef production) is a main driver of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
Logging and wood harvesting are key drivers of deforestation, especially in North America and Russia forests provide resources (e.g. timber) for construction, furniture, and paper production. In Canada, 35.4 million acres of boreal forests have been deforested due to logging. This is an area approximately the size of the state of New York in the USA.
Negative Impacts of Deforestation:
31% of our planet is covered by forests. The diverse ecosystems of the Earth are home to 80% of the planet’s terrestrial biodiversity. Deforestation contributes to 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. One acre of forested land can store up to store up to 200 tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) (a greenhouse gas). Deforestation is a leading cause of climate change.
During the daytime, the sun’s heat warms the surface of the Earth. During the nighttime, the Earth’s surface cools by releasing some of the trapped heat into the air. Greenhouse gases such as CO2 trap the Earth’s heat and retain it. This is called the ‘greenhouse effect’ and it helps keep the surface of the Earth warm. Forests capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in the form of biomass (carbon sequestration). When trees are deforested, increasing amounts of CO2 are released into the atmosphere, causing the Earth to trap higher amounts of CO2. This warms the Earth more, increasing its surface temperature and contributing to global warming and climate change.
Climate change leads to new weather patterns including changing precipitation timings and levels and also temperature fluctuations. Deforestation decreases the forests’ resilience towards wildfires, especially due to the alterations in precipitation patterns. Changes in the water cycle lead to drier and warmer conditions including drought.
Deforestation reduces the soil’s ability to hold the land together as it damages the root systems. This degrades the land, and reduces soil fertility and soil biodiversity, making the land more prone to landslides. The removal of CO2 is one way in which forests help mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Forests cover 31% of the Earth’s land surface & house many of the plants’ water to sustain the populations of species. Rainforests house 50% of the world’s biodiversity. Deforestation leads to the loss of shelter, habitat fragmentation, loss of breeding grounds for animals, and food/water sources for animals. Habitat fragments may be too small to sustain a species, giving rise to issues such as population diversity for breeding. This leads to some dying of starvation. Furthermore, these activities fragment forest habitats and disturb wildlife corridors which leads to the concentration of species in areas, reducing biodiversity and genetic diversity. Animals are left with no choice but to venture out into urban areas/human settlements and invade them which leads to human-wildlife conflicts.
Additionally, climate change leads to unsuitable temperatures for some animals, leading to their endangerment and extinction. Some species (e.g. the Northern Spotted Owl in the Western US can’t survive in secondary habitats, leading to lower survival rates of the species, eventually leading to their extinction.).The Bramble Cay melomys is a small rodent that was endemic to the island of Bramble Kay. The extinction of this species has been described as 'the first mammalian extinction caused by human-induced climate change’.
As animals lose their habitats due to deforestation, their encounters with humans are increased as they venture into human settlements (more specifically farms). Most of these settlements are designed with humans in mind, not wildlife. Wildlife may become nuisances to people leading to the euthanasia/shooting/killing of animals (affecting endangered species the most). Animals may ingest unsafe materials, also putting their lives in danger. Make sure to highlight the fact that the reason animals invade human settlements and urban areas is that humans invaded theirs and took their homes away from them. The human-elephant conflict is a major issue in Sri Lanka. It has resulted in over 800 elephant deaths between 2022 and 2023.
Forests provide a plethora of benefits to humans (medicinal drugs and healthy diets, improvements in mental health, aid in the mitigation of soil erosion, aid in flood prevention, food security, and act as carbon sinks that aid in the mitigation of climate change to name a few.
Here are a Few Actions you can Take to Help Reduce the Rate of Deforestation and its Impacts:
Consume responsibly.
Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle, and Upcycle.
Join a youth organization that supports reforestation and educates campus members on deforestation and its impacts in school or on campus.
Offset your carbon footprint.
Support sustainable agriculture.