Introduction
It is hard to disagree that the current state of the environment is not quite positive. The population of people is growing rapidly, pollution is increasing, and nature continues to suffer the consequences of technological progress. To make enough space for agriculture, new plants, and numerous skyscrapers, as well as obtain wood for construction, manufacturing, and fuel, people raze forests, which has become a major issue. Nowadays, humans have to deal with the shortage of forests, which has many environmental consequences, including increased greenhouse gases, soil erosion, and climate change. Since there are many modern policies and campaigns to preserve forests, it is possible to evaluate whether people are doing enough to save them.
Current State of Forests Worldwide
The planet continues to lose native forests, but there are some positive facts related to deforestation. As noticed by Lipton (2020), since 1990, approximately 420 million hectares of trees have been cut down. At the same time, there is a significant decrease in the net forest loss rate, “from an annual average of 7.8 million hectares during the decade of 1990 to 2000 to 4.7 million hectares annually from 2010 to 2020” (Lipton, 2020, para. 3). It is also essential to mention that the situation is worse with the Amazonian rainforest. The losses are on the rise, and in 2020, the destruction rose by twenty-one percent (Greenpeace, n.d.). Therefore, it means that the issue can change for the better if people continue paying increased attention to deforestation. Otherwise, it is unlikely that future generations will live happily and enjoy the beauty of nature.
Negative Effects of Deforestation
The adverse impact of deforestation may differ in major countries, but there are some common effects. For example, as noticed by researchers, excess removal of trees leads to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, flooding, fewer crops, soil erosion, and desertification (Pachamama Alliance, n.d.). What is more, indigenous people also suffer from deforestation because their lives still depend on forests, and the destruction of woods also destroys their communities’ well-being (Greenpeace, n.d.). Finally, it is impossible to reduce the threats of global warming without addressing deforestation because the former is partly caused by the latter.
Solutions to Deforestation and Evaluation of Humans’ Efforts
Overall, it is possible to say that people are quite successful at reducing the rate of deforestation, but their current efforts are not enough. Since the awareness of the problem was raised in the 1960s, and the negative consequences are evident now, it is in the interests of humans to address the issue by implementing effective policies and campaigns. Nowadays, countries are financially incentivized for forest conservation by international programs like UN-REDD (Lipton, 2020). Further, the private sector’s commitments, national and local policies, “inclusion of forests into member states’ commitments to the Paris Agreement on climate change,” and increased public awareness are proved to be rather efficient steps (Lipton, 2020, para. 26). What is more, people effectively use new technology to monitor forests and receive data about the disappearance of trees. Finally, to make sure that people are doing enough to reduce the net forest loss rate, sustainable choices need to be promoted, and the politics should be changed.
Conclusion
To conclude, one may say that although deforestation is a major issue that has not been eliminated yet, people are quite effective at addressing its consequences. It was possible to significantly decrease the net forest loss rate, but the current state of worldwide forests is not promising enough. There are numerous negative effects of deforestation, which increases the necessity of solving the problem. Finally, various solutions like local and national policies raised awareness, and international programs seem effective and can help address deforestation.
References
Greenpeace. (n.d.). Solutions to deforestation.
Lipton, G. (2020). 4.06 billion remaining hectares, and other new numbers on forests… But what do they mean? Landscape News.
Pachamama Alliance. (n.d.). Effects of deforestation.