Save the Trees, Please!

We all know that trees are a HUGE source of supplying many of the items that we use on a daily basis, making them very critical links to the life chain of our planet. However, the growing population each year is adding more and more pressure to the thousands of acres of rainforests being violently harvested and depleted every single day. Raising awareness on the severity of this situation is crucial if we plan to replenish our earth with the nutrients necessary for its ultimate survival. I chose to answer the topic question, “Are the environmental problems we face today new?”, because after going through the readings and researching online articles, I realized that the deforestation issue has been one that seems to be repeatedly pushed aside. I believe that NOW is the time to give this topic the attention it deserves so we can do everything in our power to save the trees!

According to the online source, FAO NEWSROOM, deforestation is actually the cause of the 25-30% of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere each year, not the common assumption of oil and gas emissions. The article went on to explain that trees are 50% carbon, which is released back into the air when they are felled or burned. It is estimated by the organization that some 13 million forests worldwide are lost every year, with Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia prime target areas. This is where the reading “Lessons of Easter Island” came in for me. Since Easter Island is located off of the coast of Latin America, it made sense as to why deforestation was and is such an issue, especially in the context of the story of the islanders.

With settlement starting to begin in the fifth century, the Polynesians began to develop methods of survival on the island. This also included making adjustments based off of what the island did and didn’t offer, such as fewer species of plants and animals, which the Polynesian culture had previously been used to. Deforestation of the island began as the population hit its peak in 1550, resulting in trees needing to cut down to provide clearings for agriculture, fuel for heating and cooking, construction material for household goods, pole and thatch houses and canoes for fishing. The trees then proceeded to be the only possible way to transport the culture’s “ahu” statues to ceremonial sites, which was a huge part of the Polynesians’ social beliefs. Throughout both processes of consistently needing to use the trees for one reason or another, the island was almost completely deforested by 1600. This proves that deforestation has been a problem for a much longer period of time than we all thought!

The “Ecosystems and Human Well-Being” readings confirmed my thoughts by bringing up information pertinent to present day. On page 4, it discusses that there has more recently been dramatic growth in the demand for food, water, timber, fiber, and fuel, which made me think back to the Easter Islanders. Once again, world population doubled between 1960 and 2000, causing the increase in the importance of these resources for human survival. While deforestation is still a direct result of this process, today we have developed a better use of new technologies and service management that are lowering the amount of harmful effects associated with the clearing of trees.

After reading about the many consequences of deforestation through the readings, I was interested in finding out if there were actual benefits of deforestation. There were more than I thought there would be, but the cons definitely outweighed the pros. On an online source titled Benefits of Deforestation written by Ezine Articles, it states that the economic gains are easy to spot. These include the number of jobs associated with cutting down lumber, the usefulness we get out of using lumber, the amount of land that becomes available for farmers, as well as the potential growth our society has by making cleared areas available. Houses, buildings, offices, and any type of urbanization would be impossible without deforestation!

So my question to you all is this: what do YOU think about the pros and cons of deforestation? Can we ever have a true balance between the good for society and the good for the environment? It is a huge environmental problem that we face today and have faced for hundreds of years, but is it ever really going to stop if our society continues to revolutionize and expand? While there are many more environmental problems to focus on, deforestation is something that affects multiple aspects of society in ways that many don’t ever even realize. Therefore, I am proposing that we do anything and everything that we can to more efficiently make use of our environment WITHOUT harming it.

 So…Save the Trees, Please!