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ph Florian Roser

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The world knows deforestation is happening and although trees play a significant role in attempts to slow climate change, deforestation is continuing on an unprecedented scale. It is up to each of us to do something about it.

The United Nations

According to United Nations, the world has lost 420 million hectares or about a billion acres of forest, in the last 30 years. Almost one-fifth of the Amazonian rain-forest has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and Amazon Conservation reports that destruction rose by 21 percent in 2020, with January 2022 holding the dubious record of the highest ever loss of Amazon rain-forest.

Trees and Carbon Dioxide

Trees absorb not only the carbon dioxide that we exhale, but also the heat-trapping greenhouse gases that human activities emit and which have led to climate change.

Causes of deforestation

We also know that farming, grazing of livestock, mining, and drilling account for more than half of all deforestation, with forestry practices, wildfires, and urbanisation accounting for the rest.

For example, a large percentage of the world’s palm oil production comes from Indonesia and Malaysia, where the rain forest is being cleared at a rate of 2.4 million acres a year to make way for new plantations. Animal farming has become one of the leading causes of deforestation in Amazon, with around 70 percent of the Amazon rain forest cleared to make way for cattle ranches for meat production.

Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees.

Why it matters and what we can do

Deforestation directly affects the people and animals where trees are cut down, but also everyone in the wider world.

Some 250 million people living in forest and savannah areas depend on them for subsistence and income, many of them among the world’s rural poor. Eighty percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and deforestation threatens species including the orangutan, some tigers, and many species of birds.

Climate Change

In terms of climate change, cutting trees adds carbon dioxide to the air and removes the ability to absorb existing carbon dioxide. According to the World Resources Institute, if tropical deforestation were a country, it would rank third in carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, behind China and the USA.

These numbers make for shocking reading, but movement is under way to preserve existing forest ecosystems and restore lost tree cover. Many organisations and activists are working to fight illegal mining and logging.

As individuals we can make a difference and it makes sense to examine the products and meats you buy and how you live your lives.

We can:

Use less paper and recycle paper and cardboard;

Stop buying products which contain palm-oil:

Look for sustainably produced sources;

Avoid products which contain palm-oils;

Reduce our meat consumption; and

Support organizations that fight deforestation, such as Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund and the Rain forest Alliance

Become more mindful

Unless attitudes change and we change tack, the Amazonian rain forest will continue to decline and that long-term will kill off the human species too.

I write about and bring these issues to my blog because they are important, but unless we start being selfless and change how we live, future generations including your children, their children and their children's children will be lost. I hate carrying the burden of being the bearer of bad news, but this is a real issue that needs us all to act NOW.

Also, the tireless work that people like Sir David Attenborough and Chris Packham do to get us to play our part will have been for nothing. Decades of their documentaries are a force for good. Governments need to do their bit. It is important to incorporate change into our everyday lives. Not to put a finer point on it, we are killing the planet.

Conclusion

Let’s become mindful as we go about our lives, let’s start caring about the world because the world needs us to care, it needs us to care about all who live in it. Be more selfless, so that we can save the world so that future generations may live, so they have the opportunity to live and thrive, for them to make the world for future generations and so forth. The alternative shouldn't be a consideration or an option. Sadly, it is on the radar. Attitudes must change.

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com   https://greentumble.com

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