Forests Can Resist Climate Change, So Humans Should Too

This is an opinion piece from the Rainforest Alliance.

Among the many gifts forests give us is one we desperately need: help with slowing climate change. Trees capture greenhouse gases (GHGs) like carbon dioxide, preventing them from accumulating in the atmosphere and warming our planet.

When we clear forests, we're not only knocking out our best ally in capturing the staggering amount of GHGs we humans create (which we do primarily by burning fossil fuels for energy and transport, as well as through conventional agriculture). We're also creating emissions by cutting trees down: When a tree is felled, all the carbon it has stored over its lifetime releases into the atmosphere. Typically, these felled trees are either left on the forest floor to rot or burned, creating even more emissions.

Deforestation on its own causes about 10 percent of worldwide GHG emissions.

So since we know that deforestation robs us of a crucial weapon in the battle against climate change—and creates further emissions—why would anyone clear a forest? The main reason is something equally as vital: agriculture.

The world's exploding population has made it profitable for big business to raze forests so it can plant mega crops like soy and oil palm. Meanwhile, on a much, much smaller scale, subsistence farmers often clear trees so they can plant crops to feed their families and bring in small amounts of cash.

But there's a tragic irony to clearing rainforests for agriculture: their underlying soils are extremely poor. All the nutrient-richness is locked up in the forests themselves, so once they're burned and the nutrients from their ashes are used up, farmers are usually left with utterly useless soil. So on they go to the next the next patch of forest: raze, plant, deplete, repeat.

Not surprisingly, agriculture itself causes emissions, too. These farm emissions are second only to those of the energy sector in the dubious contest for emissions supremacy. In 2011, farms were responsible for about 13 percent of total global emissions. Most farm-related emissions come in the form of methane (the hilariously-named but seriously detrimental "cattle belching") and nitrous oxide (from fertilizers and the like).

All told, deforestation causes a triple-whammy of global warming:

1. We lose a crucial ally in keeping excess carbon out of the atmosphere (and in slowing global warming).

2. Even more emissions are created when felled trees release the carbon they'd been storing, and rot or burn on the forest floor.

3. What most often replaces the now-vanished forest--livestock and crops--generate massive amounts of even more greenhouse gases. Taken together, these emissions account for a quarter of all emissions worldwide.

What's worse, this account of the ugly three-strikes-and-you're-out impact of deforestation only considers emissions, and doesn't even touch on how the lives and traditions of forest communities are ruined when forests are razed, or how many species of plants and animals are lost, upsetting the delicate balance of ecosystems. The uptick in mosquito-borne diseases, for example, or the rapid spread of roya -- an insidious plant disease that threatens our supply of coffee -- are all indirect consequences of deforestation and global warming.

Strong forests are our most powerful allies in the fight against climate change. Preventing deforestation while meeting the demands of a rapidly growing global population—projected to reach 9 billion by 2050—is an urgent imperative that can only be achieved if we transform our relationship to the planet. The Rainforest Alliance works with farmers, forest communities, governments, and companies to foster truly sustainable rural economies that support decent livelihoods while protecting one of Earth's most valuable natural resources.

We stand more of a chance in the fight against climate change if we defend the world's remaining forests. Learn more about our work to keep forests standing, and join our alliance.