Can’t See The Forest
Below is a good video, from WeForest.com, explaining the crucial role our forests play in sustaining a habitable world. Forests are powerhouses which biosequester carbon dioxide, taking it out of the atmosphere and increasing the carbon density of the land – and thereby preserving the land’s ability to support life. Loss of forest land leads to loss of biodiversity. Not only that, but our forests are essential in maintaining the water cycle, transpiring ground water into the atmosphere to create cloud cover. This cloud cover leads to rainfall, of course, but it also shields the earth from much of the sun’s radiation, regulating global temperatures.
As the world turns its attention to the hot issue of climate change, perhaps we should be considering not only how we humans can slash our own carbon emissions, but also how we can restore and protect the world’s forests – designed by nature to play a key role in the preservation of planet Earth. Many scientists estimate that 80 percent of the world’s forests have been lost, with most of that loss occurring in the past 250 years or so, since the advent of industrialization. Today, one of the driving forces behind deforestation is animal agriculture – as the demand for beef soars, so does the rate at which forest land (particularly in the Amazon) must be clearcut to create space in which to raise more and more beef cattle. (So not only are livestock the most significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, but their cultivation is a chief contributor to the loss of nature’s best mechanism to regulate greenhouse gas!)
Anyhow, watch the video – it explains the importance of reforestation better than I. But the bottom line, at least to me, is this: Cutting our greenhouse gas emissions may be a temporary fix. But as human populations continue to grow, we will inevitably see efforts to curb our emissions produce diminishing returns. The real key is in restoring the natural balance between the earth and the sky and all the creatures that inhabit them. Our forests have done an excellent job of that for millions of years; it’s what they evolved to do. Let’s figure out ways to restore our forest land and let those forests do their job. Will we have to learn to live a bit differently? Of course we will. But that, to me, seems like a fair price to pay.
