It’s been 25 years that we hear that it represents a serious threat to the planet. What is deforestation? This is mainly the consequence of the expansion of commercial agriculture (mainly soya and palm oil) and animal husbandry. The vagaries of the weather and the monster fires further amplify the phenomenon. We are not going to keep our hands in our pockets.
” The tree will fall, the branches dirty the walls. Nothing must remain, the gentleman wants to park his car... “We all love the song of francis and its message both powerful and poignant.
We must not only defend trees because they are majestic, because they enrich the earth and that they protect biodiversity. On top of that, they absorb carbon to grow. This is the principle of photosynthesis: plants synthesize organic matter using light energy, by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air (CO2 is a greenhouse gas) and by releasing oxygen.
Cutting down trees increases CO2
It is easy to understand that removing trees is equivalent to a reduction in CO2 capture. It’s true, but the problem does not stop there: deforestation will not just limit the absorption of CO2, it will also increase CO2 present in the atmosphere.
So what is deforestation? To fully understand the subject, you have to understand what we are talking about here…
Deforestation is “the phenomenon of lasting regression of areas covered with forests, whether of human or natural origin. »
If a forest grows back after a cut, an attack by xylophagous insects or a fire, we do not speak of deforestation.
It has to happen over time. The best way to verify this, and this is what is done today, is through satellite images.
Trees capture CO2
Trees absorb CO2 for their growth through photosynthesis. Trees are said to be carbon sinks.
A carbon sink is the process that removes CO2 from the atmosphere.either by destroying it or by storing it elsewhere than in the atmosphere.
Indeed, a growing tree extracts CO2 from the atmosphere and stores carbon (C) in the form of sugar and other organic molecules in the wood. And it rejects oxygen 02 to make a nice equation: CO2 = C + O2.
Read also:
2°C, what does it change for the planet?
A little greenhouse cocktail?
The tree will fall (deforestation is in full swing)
The oceans are warming up, so what?
Acting for the environment takes time…
The oceans are also carbon sinks as they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. Of all the CO2 we emit, a quarter is captured by the photosynthesisa quarter is captured by oceans and the rest, half, remains in the atmosphere.
But back to our forests and our subject: what is deforestation?
Cutting down a forest permanently has therefore an impact on CO2 capture. Indeed, no new tree will grow to capture CO2 to replace other trees that did.
But the major problem is the following: deforestation emits CO2, which is not so natural to understand.
What is deforestation? The causes
What emits CO2 is what happens to trees. In the majority of cases, the trees are burned. And what does combustion emit? CO2!
Another solution (rarer) that is used is to leave them abandoned on the spot. . Trees decompose and they re-emit the carbon they have accumulated as they grow. The decomposition therefore emits CO2.
Now that you know this, I think you are interested in understanding the causes of deforestation so that you can, if you wish, adapt your behavior.
L’commercial farming corresponds to field crops (such as soybeans and oil palm) andbreeding (for 14%). Local subsistence agriculture corresponds to local peasant agriculture, particularly in developing countries.
Maybe you wonder about thepaper industry. Well in the end, it has very little impact on deforestation because it largely uses the recycling and kindling that does not require cutting down trees.
For the rest, this industry cultivates trees which, when they are cut, are replaced by new trees planted. What is not no deforestation by definition.
Deforestation has a real impact on greenhouse gas emissions, beyond the simple carbon sink.
To act, let’s just start with our plate. Eliminate the purchase of products containingPalm oil and reduce our meat consumption.
