As early as 1995, leading scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had warned of global warming, which had become evident, based on their investigation. Indications of this would include the increase in the average global temperature since 1960 with the highest registered in the Earth’s poles, the breaking up of the Antarctic ice sheets, the regular occurrence of long El Niño phenomenon, the increasing number of hurricanes, the record number of heat waves, and the increase of epidemics due to the global climate change.
What is very unfortunate with these developments is the fact that much of these disasters have so much human influence involved. These scientists have warned that unless something is done, the situation will get worse. One area which has been cited as a major factor for this is the indiscriminate destruction of the forests, particularly those considered as rainforests.
What is Global Warming?
Global warning may be described as the result of the sun’s heat being absorbed and trapped inside the earth’s atmosphere. The is mainly due to the accumulation of gases, such carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, in the atmosphere creating to what is known as the greenhouse effect. These greenhouse gases are opaque to the sun’s radiation causing it to be trapped in atmosphere. And as more gases, particularly carbon dioxide, build up, the opacity is increased and therefore increasing the heat trapped in the atmosphere producing global warming.
Carbon Dioxide and Its Impact to the Greenhouse Effect
Of the several gases that create the greenhouse effect, carbon dioxide has been identified as the largest contributor. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has been said to increase by 43 percent since the start of the industrialization age. This is expected to further increase to over 60 percent by the year 2050.
Scientists have claimed that over 85 percent of the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere may be accounted by the combustion of fossil fuels. A large portion of these are the gas emission from vehicles and production processes that use fossil fuels. With the continuing global industrialization activities, the emissions of carbon dioxide are expected to increase further at critical levels.
The Role of Forests in Managing Global Warming
Trees are very important in the management of global warming largely through their function of trapping carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis. Instead of polluting the atmosphere, carbon dioxide gases are absorbed by the trees thereby limiting the quantity of gases that may cause the greenhouse effect.
One study found that the clearing and burning of tropical forests may even release an estimated 3.7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. Unabated, the neglect of the trees and forests may only hasten the deterioration of our planet earth. So instead of destroying these important resources, we should concentrate our efforts in preserving and increasing our trees and forests.