People have cut down trees ever since the beginning of civilization. They did that because they needed wood, a place to build and a place to sow. It was an unstoppable process especially at beginning, something that had to be done if civilization was to develop. However, there must be the point where we say enough or otherwise there won’t be any trees left. Or must there?
Deforestation – why and what for?
There are a few reasons why people cut down so many trees.
First of all they need wood for industry and construction. It is an obvious reason and wood, as for now is rather an irreplaceable material for that. Of course there are other things that may be used instead, but more often than not it’s much worse for the environment to use them than to keep cutting the trees.
Second of all there’s often a reason of needing the space. In today’s times it’s more often needed to build a road than a building, but both reasons are equally harmful for the forests themselves.
Third of all there’s a matter of jobs. Especially in regions such as Amazonia in South America a lot of people would lose their job if deforestation was to stop. Of course it’s not a reason to keep cutting down, for example the amazonian forest, but it may be one of the reasons why it is still being cut down in the first place.
What do forests mean to us?
So yes – we all say that we should stop cutting down the forests – but why? If we need the wood and the space, then why should we stop? Well there are a lot of reasons for that and believe me – they are much more important than the needs listed above.
Most importantly, the forests are, so to speak “the greenway” of the planet. The trees, all around the Earth absorb huge amounts of CO2 and create clear oxygen out of it. If there’s a stable amount of forests then this level also is stable, but when the forests are being cut down the amount of CO2 grows and the stability disappears.
The other important thing is the fact that the forests and trees are the place where a lot of species of animals and plants live. Cutting down forests deprives them from their living environment and likely contributes to their possible extincion, which almost certainly will also directly affect us.
How will deforestation end?
The forests are important yes and their presence does affects us, but what actually happens when all, or anyway, most of the trees are gone? A good example of that is the situation on the Eastern Island, where the trees were cut down to the last one and the society living there started to suffer from hunger and many other things.
Of course that wasn’t even that bad, because there still were trees in other regions so they still had, for example, plenty of oxygen.
Anyway, the first of the effects of cutting down the trees may be, as I mentioned before, extincion of a lot of species by destroying their living environment.
Another of the effects is reduction of level of water in the ground, which may lead to making the given territory a desert and also drying the farmlands, which will reduce the crops. It may also lead to disturbing the natural water circuit and will lead to floods, mudslides and droughts.
Third thing is what also was mentioned before – the reduced level of oxygen in the atmosphere and raised level of CO2, which will lead to changes in climate and I don’t mean the changes in the ‘it will be hotter there’ kind, but much more drastic ones.
How to prevent that?
So, now that it’s clear what we need the trees for, the question is – how to prevent deforestation? Unluckely preventing the cutting down of the forests is rather hard unless you are some kind of high ranked politician – and even then it’s still complicated – but there are other ways.
One of them is simply to join some kind of organisation that takes care of such things and they will lead you from there. But if you don’t want to be a part of something like that, there are other ways. For example you may donate money to a goal connected to save the trees. You may also educate others about that – the more people know and understand why deforestation on the present scale should stop the better. Another way is taking a part in some kind of action in which you will plant new trees.
But really, those are only a few ideas and you may take part in whatever speaks to you the most or find something brand new that you can take part in yourself and perhaps also encourage others to do the same.
Youth For The Planet 