In the past few years much of Brazil is gripped by one of the worst droughts in its history. Huge reservoirs are bone dry and water has been rationed in cities across the country such as São Paulo with a population of 20 million people. Droughts were once thought to be seasonal natural disasters and uncontrollable by humans, however new research from various environmental scientists has developed a better understanding of what is occurring in our ecosystem and environment. The vast deforestation occurring in tropical developing nations has caused an immense spike in carbon emissions as well as a deep impairment in our earths water cycle, thus increasing global average temperature and climate change, however we still have the opportunity to change our destructive ways and transition towards environmentally friendly logging practices.

To understand the link between deforestation and the rise of droughts, one must first understand how vegetation effects climate.  Plants process and release water vapor (necessary for cloud formation) and absorb and emit energy used to drive weather. In fact, one fully grown tree can send 1000 liters of water vapor into our atmosphere while the entire Amazon rainforest emits 20 billion tons a day. Plants also produce their own micro-weather by controlling the humidity and temperature immediately surrounding their leaves through transpiration. The combination of shade produced by the plants leaves as well as the deep roots which are buried under the dirt of the forest allow the soil to stay moist and full of nutrients to ensure more plants will grow as the older plants die. However, if all the vegetation is suddenly destroyed, major problems in the water cycle are sure to occur and droughts will follow. Countries such as Brazil are not the first to experience these problems. In Jim Robbins New York Times article “Deforestation and Drought”, he shows how during the early 20th century officials built a 2,000-mile-long fence across Australia to keep invasive rabbits from crossing from the wild outback into farms. On the side with native vegetation, rain clouds formed in the sky above, but the farm-field skies were clear. The “bunny-fence experiments” charted a decline in rainfall of 20 percent on the cultivated side. Researchers are still trying to explain why, but the leading theory is that the darker native plants absorb more heat and release it into the atmosphere, along with energy and water vapor to form clouds (Robbins). Although what happened in Australia seems to be also happening in Brazil, one Princeton study suggests that this deforestation is having a global affect rather than a local one as the decay of the Amazon could potentially contribute to drought in places as far away as California, while NASA research has indicated that recent droughts in Texas and New Mexico might be linked to cutting in the Amazon.

Although it is shown that deforestation has a detrimental effect to the water cycle and precipitation, researches have now discovered a link between deforestation and carbon emissions. According to the World Carfree Network (WCN), as well as the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), cars and trucks account for about 14 percent of global carbon emissions, while most analysts attribute upwards of 15 percent to deforestation. Even more disturbing is that if we decide not to “change the present system that rewards forest destruction, forest clearing will put another 200 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere in coming decades”(EDF). In “Deforestation: The Hidden Cause of Global Warming” by Daniel Howden, Howden raises a similar argument using reliable sources from various English universities. Howden also shows how deforestation has put countries such as Indonesia and Brazil as the biggest producers of greenhouse gases (CO2 emissions) behind the United States and China. To understand why deforestation releases so much carbon into our atmosphere one must first understand the biology of the tree. In order to survive a tree must undergo a process known as photosynthesis, in which the tree absorbs carbon dioxide molecules (CO2) and releases oxygen molecules(O2) which we breath, the CO2 is then stored throughout the tree and remains there. In fact, trees are able to store so much CO2 that forests in the United States alone absorb and store 750 million metric tons of carbon every year. After learning how much carbon is stored in a tree it no longer seems unreasonable for deforestation to account for more than 1.5 billion tons of carbon emissions every year considering that 30 million acres of forests and woodlands are lost to deforestation. However, the reason scientists always refer to carbon emission data when discussing global warming is due to the overpowering affects CO2 has on our atmosphere. The reason CO2 is such a dangerous chemical to have in our atmosphere is because once a substantial amount is in our atmosphere it traps some of the suns radiation and heats up the earth’s temperature, a process also known as the greenhouse gas effect. New research by the Union of Concerned Scientists present even more unsettling data, as CO2 is able to remain in the atmosphere longer than the other major heat trapping gases emitted as a result of human activities. It takes about a decade for methane (CH4) emissions to leave the atmosphere (it converts into CO2) and about a century for nitrous oxide (N2O). In the case of CO2, much of today’s emissions will be gone in a century, but about 20 percent will still exist in the atmosphere approximately 800 years from now.

Although we have grown up being told that trees help the environment and improve our air quality, new research has shown they do the opposite. Despite the earths forests being able to clean up about a quarter of the worlds fossil-fuel carbon emissions, climate scientists have concluded that planting trees in the tropics would lead to cooling, but in colder regions, it would cause warming. This is because in colder regions trees produce a warming effect as their dark green leaves absorb light and increase the surrounding temperature. While in warmer regions the trees evaporate into the atmosphere, creating low clouds which reflect the sun’s rays and cool the surrounding area. Furthermore, as trees absorb the fossil fuel emissions a chemical reaction between the pollution and the volatile organic compounds inside of tree creates a harmful cocktail of toxic chemicals such as methane and ozone, two powerful greenhouse gasses, which effects the condensation of clouds. The Amazon rain forest is a closed system that uses all its own oxygen and carbon dioxide, meaning if we want to fix the problem we need to plant these trees in tropical regions where the deforestation is occurring. This counter-claim is important to note as it does make some credible points, however the decision to not plant more trees in the hopes of fixing our environmental situation will lead to an exponential decay in the world’s forests. 

Even though there seems to be an insurmountable group of problems associated with deforestation, the governments of the countries in which deforestation occurs choose to do nothing about the problem. In David Mahars “Government Policies and Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon Region”, he presents an enormous amount of evidence proving that Brazils lawmakers were well aware of the negative environmental side effects of deforestation as far back as the 1970s, showing a blatant disregard for the consequences of their actions (D.J. Mahar). It may seem as though these governments are evil for their lack of action, but it is important to consider that the logging industry accounts for much of these countries GDP. Furthermore, a large portion of these countries workforces have little to no education, making it extremely difficult to be hired outside of the logging industry. The logging companies currently operating inside of countries such as Brazil have an enormous lobbying power as they have successfully steered politicians away from enacting anti-deforestation laws which would help benefit our environment. To make matters even worse, instead of trying to reverse their damage upon the environment, these industries have increased private investment to undermine environmental regulations and continue deforestation in the ever-shrinking rainforests in developing countries. Yet one of the biggest challenges one faces when trying to stop lumber companies is the high demand for wood that these companies are trying to meet. We use wood to help build almost everything, from the frame of your house to the steering wheel of your car wood is a commonly use building material. This high demand is due to lumbers natural characteristics of being light, strong, resilient, simple to fabricate and join, extremely versatile, thermally resistant, making lumber the most economical choice for most construction needs.

While it may see as though deforestation is only occurring in the Amazon, almost 34 million acres of forests are being cut down every year in countries such as Congo, Australia, and China. Although countries such as the United States have passed multiple bills protecting its forests and wildlife such as the National Environmental Policy Act, National Forest Management Act, and the Resource Planning Act, the governments of other countries where deforestation is common do not have an agenda as environmentally friendly. As the population of these countries grow at a seemingly exponential rate, new housing projects are needed as more forests are cut down to meet demand. This is not an uncommon practice as Sri Lanka’s government had sold more than 1300 acres of preserved national forest to a logging company in 2013. Now that deforestation has manifested itself into a global problem, many have hypothesized how it came it be this one. One hypothesis from Bouza Herrera relates to the vast expansion of globalization since 1970, which has allowed us to “satisfy real and perceived needs and wants from resources occurring naturally in the environment” (Herrera, 4). However, over 40 years later and the long-term effects have begun to show as globalization has drastically changed our planet and its future.

If we plan to make a sustainable and livable world for our grandchildren our forests need to be protected because they form part of our life support system, providing oxygen, carbon capture and sequestration, water filtration, soil stability, medicines, and more. Although our outlook may seem bleak as seventy percent of the world’s forests are now gone, there is still much that can be done. In order to fix the issue, we must first go to the source, that said if corporations have the ability to destroy the world’s forests, they may also have the ability to help save them as well. Companies can make an impact by introducing “zero deforestation” policies that help keep the suppliers in check. These policies will entail holding the suppliers accountable for producing commodities like timber, paper, cork, and cardboard in a way that does not fuel deforestation and has a minimal impact on our climate. This is where organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council act as a third party and keep a watchful eye on lumber suppliers and report their environmental impact and cleanliness. Thankfully, some large corporations such as McDonald’s, Nestle, and Kimberly-Clark have already taken the initiative to help lessen their environmental impact. Furthermore, the most important element in solving deforestation is the need of change in politics as governments where deforestation is occurring need to start doing their part. Trying to change the environmental viewpoints of politicians is much easier said than done, forcing activists to enact changes in small steps. That said, crack downs on corruption and ensuring fair enforcement of forest conservation rules are the first steps in forming an environmentally friendly government. Exploitation of political power is what drives illegal logging and unsustainable forest operations and it must be the first problem to be tackled if any positive change is to come. Once corruption has been dealt with, environmentally beneficial legislation such as endangered species act and the wilderness act needs to be enacted to place tighter regulations of logging operations. The development of more international treaties against the expansion of deforestation such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) must accelerate as very few international policies and treaties currently exist. Many people who are aware and concerned about deforestation that occurs in these tropical regions around the world do not live there, making it difficult for them to have any positive impact on the issue. However, small choices an individual makes in their everyday lives can create immense improvements if enough people follow suit. Choices such as buying from companies that have a commitment to reducing deforestation through environmentally friendly practices, moving to a more plant-based diet to lower your consumption of animal products like meat and dairy, and making sure that the products you buy comprised from materials found in forests are made from 100 percent post-consumer content materials.

The complexity of climate science has baffled researchers for years as the vast number of variables leading to the change in our climate has kept us from understanding the true cause of global warming. While influences such as agriculture and fossil fuel emissions have been proved to have harmful consequences on the earth’s climate, the vast deforestation occurring in developing nations in the tropical regions of the world has shown to have dire effects on our global atmosphere and ecosystem. Once our knowledge of how harmful deforestation can be to our planet becomes commonly known, we can then globally collaborate to end the destructive practice for good. Yet the biggest question that has yet to be answered is how can so many people turn a blind eye to something that has such a massive negative effect on all of us? After all the rainforests have been cut, and our atmosphere saturated with carbon emissions, there will be few to no places on earth in which our grandchildren will be able to call home as our climate will be so unbearable that life on earth may come to a screeching halt. Moreover, deforestation is a problem that everyone should be concerned about not only for the sake of the rainforests but for the lives of our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and the future of all life on earth.
