Suggested Topics: Nature, Agriculture and/or the Environment - Research Paper Example

However, deforestation has been pinpointed to be contributory to increasing excessively high rates of carbon releases into the atmosphere leading to climate change. In this regard, the role of deforestation in climate change is perceived as more than just an inevitable process of development but should be seen as a more intricate process that requires determining its causes and effects, and balancing man’s welfare vis-a-vis environmental protection and preservation. Trees have been universally known to absorb carbon dioxide.

When excessive trees are cut, more carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere contributing to climate change. The problem here is that deforestation is a human activity made inevitable by the demands of our society that necessitates cutting trees and subsequently burning them to prepare the land for other purposes, such as for agriculture, housing, industrial and infrastructural developments, and for community growth. One agrees with the contention that the root cause of deforestation is the need to comply with demands for improvement of the wellbeing of man.

In retrospect, those people faced with the option to engage in deforestation must have foreseen more benefits than any detriment that the endeavor could effect. The FAO Corporate Document Repository defined deforestation as “the direct human-induced conversion of forested land to non-forested land” (FAO Corporate Document Repository par. 1). The need to balance the benefits and costs associated to deforestation is therefore believed as eminent, given that it has been identified to global warming.

It is one’s personal contention that it is not deforestation per se that is the root cause of the dilemma. There have been justified needs for deforestation, as well as other sources of forest decline. Natural calamities such as hurricanes, floods, drought, fires and pests have been identified to cause forest decline (Hermosilla par. 5). The underlying forces, including “population growth and the associated need for more food, industrialization leading to increased air pollution, toxification and global warming” (Hermosilla par. 8), are crucial factors that justify the need for deforestation.

However, through one’s research on the subject matter, the lack of governmental policies and monitoring systems to control the rate of deforestation is believed to be strongly contributory to most forested areas being excessively abused. If only government agencies and business organizations could join efforts in monitoring the extent of land areas that have been deforested; then, immediate restorative actions should have been implemented to ensure that new trees are planted to replace those that were cut.

The most visible effect of deforestation is global warming that has led to increased incidents of catastrophic events such as changes in sea levels, depletion of ozone layer, excessive flooding, destruction of ecosystems, and spreading of diseases (Climate Change Challenge: Deforestation par. 7). These significant and drastic effects are increasingly becoming frequent and more intense. One observed that news around the world have relayed excessive floods since the absence of trees resulted in soil erosion and failure to absorb rain water.

Therefore, one hereby emphasize that despite the benefits of enjoying more housing, greater amenities as communities are developed and more land