Deforestation - Research Paper Example

?Deforestation “The average facade temperature of the globe has augmented more than degree Fahrenheit since 1900 and the speed of warming has been almost three folds the century long average since 1970” (Global warming). Eilperin (2009) mentioned that the earth’s surface temperature has been increased around 0.750 C during the last century itself and the atmospheric temperature may even go up by 6 degrees before the end of the current century (Eilperin). Global warming and climate changes are some of the worst problems facing by the human community at present. Atmospheric temperature is rising rapidly for the last few decades and as a result of that unexpected weather calamities are occurring. Many studies have proved that the average atmospheric temperature has increased more than 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1900. Sea level rise is another major problem created by global warming. It should be noted that atmospheric temperature rise increases the melting of huge ice blocks from Polar Regions and as a result of that sea level is increasing gradually. Unexpected floods, storms, earthquakes, tsunami, etc are other problems associated with global warming. Plenty of reasons were cited for global warming problems. Some people believe that manmade activities are causing global warming whereas others are of the view that solar activities are causing these problems. In any case, one thing is sure- atmospheric temperature is rising much rapidly at present. Greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles and industrial units are often cited as the major reason for global warming; however, many people believe that deforestation is the major reason for global warming and climate change problems. In their opinion, huge deforestation done for establishing industries and developing infrastructures are causing the current global warming and climate change problems. This paper analyses deforestation and how it impacts "Global" Climate Change along with major international environmental policies. Deforestation and its impacts on climate change Mature forests store enormous quantities of carbon, both in the trees and vegetation itself and within the soil in the form of decaying plant matter. Forests in areas such as the Congo and the Amazon represent some of the world's largest carbon stores on land. But when forests are logged or burnt, that carbon is released into the atmosphere, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and accelerating the rate of climate change. So much carbon is released that they contribute up to one-fifth of global man-made emissions, more than the world's entire transport sector (Deforestation and climate change). Human consumes oxygen from atmosphere for breathing purpose whereas plants or forests consume carbon dioxide from atmosphere for making food or photosynthesis process. It should be noted that plants are the only food manufacturers in this world and all the other living things rely heavily on plants in one way or another for their food needs. On the other hand, atmospheric carbon dioxide is essential for the food manufacturing processes of the plants. Plants have the ability of liberating oxygen to atmosphere at the time of food manufacturing. In other words, plants consume carbon dioxide and liberate oxygen to atmosphere. Forests are our own natural resources which no man can imitate. It has its own part in the biodiversity of life even if man refuses to acknowledge them. One of the most important roles our forests play is absorbing carbon dioxide from the air—tons of it, for that matter. Without them, the ever harmful carbon dioxide will just float above our heads, further increasing greenhouse gas emissions (How Deforestation Affects Climate Change). There is a balance between the volume of carbon dioxide and the volume of oxygen in the atmosphere. Plants are responsible for maintaining this oxygen-carbon dioxide ration in atmosphere. It should not be forgotten that carbon and its oxides like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide etc have the ability to increase atmospheric temperature. In normal circumstances, a substantial portion of the solar radiations reaching our earth will be reflected back. However, carbon and its oxides have the ability to block the solar radiations from reflecting back. Thus, excessive contents of carbon and its oxides in atmosphere will help solar radiations to stay in the atmosphere and thereby increase the atmospheric temperature. When deforestation occurs, the capacity of the nature to maintain a balance between atmospheric oxygen and atmospheric carbon dioxide will be lost. In other words, the volume of carbon dioxide in atmosphere will be increased as a result of deforestation and subsequently atmospheric temperature will increase. It has been estimate the 18% of all carbon emissions come from deforestation and we are effectively turning our prize weapon against global warming against ourselves instead. Mature forests are the largest stores of carbon dioxide though all plants store carbon. Other stores include the soil, vegetation frozen underneath the arctic permafrost even the algae in the sea. The world largest forests such as the Amazon represent our largest carbon stores, it's destruction would undoubted lead to quick and devastating climate change (Effects of Deforestation). Forests are the warehouses of dangerous carbon and its compounds. Carbon and tis compounds are some of the most dangerous substances for the existence of living things in this world. It should be noted that normal climate or a balanced climate is necessary for the sustainment of life on earth. Too much cold or too much hot climate are not suitable for the sustainment of life of earth. Historically or naturally, forests or plants helped living things in maintaining a pleasant and favourable climate for the living things in this world. In all the other planets, either extreme hot or cold climatic conditions are existing, and that is why life forms cannot exist in those planets. Major international environmental policies International Tropical Timber Agreement 1994; REDD and REDD+; Earth Summit, 1992; Rio +10 etc are some of the major environmental policies in place to protect our environment from total destruction. International Tropical Timber Agreement 1994 “The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) was established under the auspices of the United Nations in 1986 amidst increasing worldwide concern for the fate of tropical forests”(About ITTO). Until the second later periods of the second half of the twentieth century, nobody bothered to think too much about deforestation problems. However, global warming and climate change problems started to intensify during this period which forced environmentalists and political leaders to think seriously about it. It should be noted that tropical timber trade was one of the major economic activities or revenue sources for poor countries, like the African countries. African forests are blessed with numerous timbers and its utility value is immense. Generally, African countries have less natural resources and timber is the only abundant natural resources for them. So, they started to destroy their forests in order to earn more revenue and also to increase their living standards. Not only African countries, many other countries also destroyed their forests for some kind of economic activity. Forests were destroyed heavily in the past for building roads, rails like transportation facilities and also for establishing industrial units by many countries. ITTO develops internationally agreed policy documents to promote sustainable forest management and forest conservation and assists tropical member countries to adapt such policies to local circumstances and to implement them in the field through projects. In addition, ITTO collects, analyses and disseminates data on the production and trade of tropical timber and funds a range of projects and other action aimed at developing industries at both community and industrial scales (About ITTO). The major aim and objectives of the formation of ITTO are to reduce deforestation as much as possible. It should be noted that it is difficult to prevent deforestation completely, especially in poor countries like African countries since timber is a major revenue source for them. ITTO concentrates on preventing unnecessary deforestation activities. Moreover, it funds forestation or planting activities so that all the destroyed plants were replaced by new ones. ITTO usually revises their policies based on the new requirements time to time. The 1994, International Tropical Timber Agreement succeeded in formulating a comprehensive policy in preventing deforestation. The major objectives of this agreement are given below. to provide an effective framework for consultation, international cooperation and policy development among all members with regard to all relevant aspects of the world timber economy to provide a forum for consultation to promote non-discriminatory timber trade practices to contribute to the process of sustainable development to enhance the capacity of members to implement a strategy for achieving exports of tropical timber and timber products from sustainably managed sources by the year 2000 to promote the expansion and diversification of international trade in tropical timber from sustainable sources by improving the structural conditions in international markets, by taking into account, on the one hand, a long term increase in consumption and continuity of supplies, and, on the other, prices which reflect the costs of sustainable forest management and which are remunerative and equitable for members, and the improvement of market access; to promote and support research and development with a view to improving forest management and efficiency of wood utilization as well as increasing the capacity to conserve and enhance other forest values in timber producing tropical forests; to develop and contribute towards mechanisms for the provision of new and additional financial resources and expertise needed to enhance the capacity of producing members to attain the objectives of this Agreement; to improve market intelligence with a view to ensuring greater transparency in the international timber market, including the gathering, compilation, and dissemination of trade related data, including data related to species being traded etc (International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994) UN-REDD and REDD+ The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) and REDD+ are some other environmental policies implemented by United Nations for the protection of forests and environment. These programs are aimed to enhance the dialogue between governments, civil society organizations and technical experts so that the implementation of forest protection activities may not fail under any circumstances. It should be noted that the consequences of deforestation by a country may not be limited in its boundaries alone. In other words, environment has no boundaries and the consequences of the injudicious activities of one country may create problem in other countries as well. For example, suppose Zambia destroys its forests immensely for making revenues. The atmospheric temperature rise may not be observed in Zambia alone. All the neighbouring countries of Zambia also face similar problems even if they stay away from deforestation activities. In short, collective actions are necessary to counter deforestation problems. Thus member countries of REDD and REDD+ programs are working together based on scientific facts, approaches, analyses, methodologies, tools, data and guidelines to prevent deforestation. The UN-REDD Global Programme work is divided in the following six integrated work areas, designed to support country actions on REDD+: Measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) and monitoring ; Engagement of Indigenous Peoples, civil society and other stakeholders; Multiple benefits; National REDD+ governance; Equitable benefit sharing systems and Sectoral transformation (Global Support to Country Actions). REDD+ Program not only inspects the deforestation activities at various parts of the world, it provides incentives and rewards to forest conservation activities undertaken by different countries. Moreover, it incorporates livelihoods improvement, biodiversity conservation and food security services (India’s Forests And REDD+, p.3). In short, the major objectives of REDD and REDD+ are to reduce forest destruction as much as possible and encourage planting as much as possible. Earth Summit, 1992 In 1992, officials from 178 countries and between 20,000 and 30,000 individuals from governments, NGOs and the media participated in The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (1992: The Rio Earth Summit). One of the major topics of discussion in this summit was the protection of global environmental systems and sustainable development strategies. As mentioned earlier, until the latter half of the twentieth century, people were not much aware of the importance of environmental protection. They realised the importance of sustainable development and environmental protection only when natural disasters started to increase. They also realised that manmade activities are contributing heavily to the occurrence of natural disasters. Earth Summit, 1992 applied tremendous pressure on the bureaucratic and stiff UN conference to move further and faster. It focused on three broad concepts: An "Earth Charter" covering a number of principles aiming at development and the protection of the environment; formulation of a global action plan for sustainable development and increasing the funding for the developing countries to contribute to sustainable development in the South (1992: The Rio Earth Summit). Earth summit 1992 realised the importance of funding to poor countries for environmental protection activities. It should be noted that people in poor countries like the African countries may suffer a lot if they were prevented from obtaining revenue form timbers. It is the duty of the wealthy nations to compensate these countries if they wanted to prevent them from deforestation like activities. The above awareness forced wealthy countries to discuss the funding options for poor countries for environmental protection activities. The right to economic development cannot be denied to any country. If somebody wants to prevent a country from a particular economic activity, they should pay compensation to that country for the revenue loss. The above fact was accepted in principle by the countries who took part in the 1992 earth summit Despite the positive effects in the aftermath and the results of UNCED there were many areas the governments refused or proved to be unable to address properly. When progress was assessed at Rio + 5 (New York, 1997) a number of gaps were identified, particularly with regard to social equity and poverty. This was largely reflected by falling levels of official development assistance (ODA) and growing international debt, along with failures to improve: technology transfer; capacity building for participation and development; institutional co-ordination; and reduce excessive levels of production and consumption. The review meeting called for the ratification, reinforcement and stronger implementation of the growing number of international agreements and conventions which refer to environment and development (1992: The Rio Earth Summit). Rio +10 The 1992 earth summit and its decisions were welcomed wholeheartedly everywhere in the world. Global public thought that the global political leaders will sincerely and seriously implement the recommendations of the 1992 earth summit. However, Axel Michaelowa and David Lehmkuhl (2002) argued that nothing happened after ten years from the Rio earth summit. “The World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in September 2002 covered a broad range of subjects, but contentious issues such as trade, energy and climate change were not given the priority some would have wished” (Michaelowa and Lehmkuhl, p.270). Conclusions Deforestation is causing huge environmental problems. Global warming and climate changes are some of the problems caused by deforestation. Forests or plants have the ability to balance the volume of oxygen with the volume of carbon dioxide in atmosphere. Deforestation helps the carbon dioxide volume in atmosphere to increase and subsequently global warming problems may increase. Even though global leaders are aware of the seriousness of this problem, they are showing reluctance in taking remedial actions because of the concerns about the loss of revenues. It is necessary to protect forests to protect life on earth. Works Cited 1. 1992: The Rio Earth Summit”. 2003. Web. 24 April 2012. 2. “About ITTO”. Web. 24 April 2012. 3. “Deforestation and Climate Change”. Web. 24 April 2012. 4. Eilperin, Juliet. 2009. “New UN Climate Study Predicts Nightmare 6.3F Temperature Rise by End of Century”. Web. 24 April 2012. 5. “Effects of Deforestation”. Web. 24 April 2012. 6. “Global Warming”. Web. 24 April 2012. 7. “Global Support to Country Actions”. Web. 24 April 2012. 8. “How Deforestation Affects Climate Change”. Web. 24 April 2012. 9. India’s Forests And REDD+. Web. 24 April 2012. 10. “International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994”. Web. 24 April 2012. 11. Michaelowa, Axel and Lehmkuhl, David. “Rio+10 – Much Talk, Little Action”. 2002. Web. 24 April 2012. Read More