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Forests – Our Green Lungs

Forests all over the world are vanishing at an alarming rate. as the green lungs of mother earth, they are vital to our health and survival..

Autor*in Pui Ying Doris Lee , 07.26.11

The year 2011 was proclaimed by the United Nations as the “International Year of the Forest”. Its aim was to promote awareness and knowledge about the conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of the present and future generations.

Forests function as habitats, suppliers of raw materials, places of recreation and a means of climate protection altogether. It will be an international challenge to preserve forests for all mankind and to promote sustainable forest management throughout the world.

The Forests of Our Earth

Forests are diverse. As a result of factors such as climate, soil conditions and forest history, different forest types have emerged, such as evergreens in the tropics, rainforests in warm temperate zones, and coniferous forests of the northern forest belt. They are the most species-rich habitats of all: of the approximately 1.8 million animals and plant species on Earth, two thirds of them live in the forest. The country with the most forestland is Russia, where a quarter of all forests on earth can be found.

Just 20 years ago, one third of the land was covered by forests. Today the number has dropped to only a quarter, which is about 3.9 billion hectares. While the number of trees in Europe is increasing, it is falling in the southern hemisphere where 12 to 15 million hectares of forest are lost every year due to fires or deforestation. This loss of forests threatens the economic and ecological basis at local, regional and global levels.

What Do Forests Have to Do with the Climate?

Both locally and globally, the forest stands in close interaction with the environment. Forests contribute significantly to oxygen generation and carbon storage. The temperature-regulation effect a forest has on its surrounding environment is a reason why city parks or green areas are especially popular on hot summer days. Forests and forest soils act as filters, oxygen producers and water storage areas.

A tree produces its biomass, like all green plants, practically out of “nothing”, i.e. carbon dioxide, water and solar energy. In India, the forests contain 2,800 million metric tonnes of carbon in living forest biomass, making it easy to envision exactly how forests serve as the “green lung” of the country and of the world.

A 100 year old oak tree with 130,000 leaves, their biological cells, binds about 5,000 pounds of carbon dioxide to organic substances such as wood, leaves and bark each year and gives off up to 4,500 kilograms of oxygen, which is the annual requirement of eleven people. At the same time, the tree works as an air conditioner. The roots of that oak absorb about 40,000 liters of water from the soil every year, then “sweats out” via the leaves again. The generated evaporative cooling ensures that the forest even on hot summer days remains pleasantly cool. In addition, it filters about one tonne of dust and pollutants from the air, thus acting like a giant vacuum cleaner.

The Forest Disappears for Steaks and Toilet Paper

Every day, our planet loses about 356 square kilometres of forest especially in the tropics but also in the vast territories of the Russian taiga. That is about 35 football fields of forest per minute. This immense forest destruction is responsible for around 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s more than when all the cars and airplanes of the world emit together and the worldwide demand for wood is still increasing!

The forest is turned into disposable items of all kinds, from tissue paper to paper cups for the daily coffee-to-go. Forest areas have to give way for agricultural use, as soy is grown in its place for the increasingly growing meat production and palm oil crops for food and bio-fuel. Using forestland for agricultural production of food, cattle feeding, bio-energy and renewable raw materials as well as municipal, commercial, industrial and mining is generally more economically attractive than forestry. Even the often man-caused forest fires contribute to the destruction of large forest areas. This has particularly increased in recent years.

According to the World Bank, forests are essential to the survival and livelihoods of about 1.6 billion people who live in extreme poverty. The wide range of products made from the forests secure their food, income and housing while at the same time forests hold deep-rooted spiritual and cultural values. Traditional forms of self-sustainable agricultural activities and knowledge of the usefulness of valuable forest resources including endangered flora and fauna are disappearing.

Forests – Aiding India’s Magical Economic Growth

As one of the world’s leading economic powers, India relies heavily on resources from the forest. Its economic growth comes at the expense of its natural environment. On top of this, studies have repeatedly found that population growth (which has correlational relationship with economic growth) has an adverse effect on biodiversity.

Until recently, after countless environmentalists stressed the importance of tree plantation for regulating pollution level in the air, illegal felling of trees was on the rise, for example, in the Sunderbans of India, the world’s largest mangrove forest.

How can the forest serve the people in India? Forests and woodlands are converted into agricultural land to feed growing numbers of people, used to plant cash crops while cattle ranching helps India to earn money. Trees are also cut for firewood, building material and other wood products.

Monoculture plantations are on the rise in India, expanding by nearly 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 square miles) to 18,000 square kilometres (nearly 7,000 square miles) per year. (Source: Mongabay)

Apart from that, India is a big edible oil consumer. In fact, it is one of the three largest importers of palm oil in the world, along with the EU and China. Of these imports, 95 percent come from Indonesia and Malaysia, causing negative social and environmental consequences in these exporting countries. The global demand for palm oil is projected to increase from the current level of 22 million tonnes to 40 million by 2020. This increase in demand is likely to force the producing countries to establish new plantations, by converting forestland into crop area. 

Sustainable Ways of Consuming Wood

It is estimated that the demand for timber is likely to grow from 58 million cubic metres in 2005 to 153 million cubic metres in 2020. In principle, the sustainable usage of wood could see it turned into a renewable and environmentally-friendly source of raw materials.

The concept of sustainability has its origins in the forest economy. Over-exploitation, forest grazing and energy starvation in the Middle Ages led to the formulation of the basic principle of sustainability. To put it simple it suggests not to use more wood faster than the rate of the wood growing back. The Brundtland Commission (1987) and the Rio Conference (1992) have introduced the concept of sustainability as “Sustainable Development” to the international debate.

According to today’s interpretation of the principle of sustainability, a balance between economic, environmental and social aspects over generations and regions are all included. To put it in the context of forestry, silvicultural strategies can only be economically successful in the long-term if they are ecologically acceptable.

The FSC label is now the only seal that guarantees the products made out of wood are from a responsible source. These products include furniture, paper as well as construction materials and diapers.

Conservation and “Paper Parks”

In addition to the sustainable management of forests, it is necessary to protect certain forest areas in order to ensure their long lifespan. From National Parks, Animal Sanctuaries, Biosphere Reserves, Reserved and Protected Forests to Community Reserves, there are at least 140 different categories of protected areas worldwide. For some, such as biosphere reserves and national parks, international guidelines are applied. Others are regulated by the state and laws differ as how to strongly an area is protected and the degree of intervention in the area that is allowed.

However, not all reserves are equally protected. Most protected areas have been reported in regions with strong resistance from various interest groups – e.g. agriculture, tourism industry or mining companies.

The lack of will and initiatives from the financial and political sectors causes difficulties for the existing protected areas to be effectively managed, not to mention establishing new conservation efforts. Many developing countries are not able to offer sufficient funds to finance necessary salaries, infrastructure and equipment for this matter in order to protect biodiversity. Many of these areas are therefore, unfortunately, only available on paper – they are the so-called “paper parks”.

Even under the current Kyoto protocol, the avoidance of deforestation and the protection of existing forests has so far not been financially honoured. To finance those reserves with global significance and set up new ones, new ways of protected area management, fundraising and financing of nature protection are needed. Only when the measures are no longer placed from top to bottom, would the forests and thus the climate benefit. International regulations are necessary but must also be linked and be compatible with local and regional measures.

Author: Doris Pui-ying Lee/ RESET editorial

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The science of sherlock holmes and the ghosts of conan doyle, openmind books, scientific anniversaries, georges claude and neon lights, featured author, latest book, 5 of the planet’s ‘green lungs’: the most fascinating forests on earth.

Thanks to the important work that parks and gardens do to clean the air in the cities, they are popularly known as ‘urban lungs’ as they absorb CO2 and add new oxygen to the air. If we take a closer look at this global mechanism, what exactly are the Earth’s ‘lungs’? We will review five exceptional and fascinating forests to delve into the wonderful natural environments that constitute some of the planet’s ‘green lungs’.  

The Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest is home to 10 percent of all known species of plants and animals on Earth, according to Greenpeace. Apart from its unparalleled diversity, the Amazon Rainforest plays a fundamental role when it comes to regulating the levels of carbon in the atmosphere. It stores approximately 100 billion metric tons of carbon – over ten times more than the annual global emissions from fossil fuels.

Taiga or the boreal forests

The Taiga is a coniferous forest ecosystem in cold areas of the planet, such as northern Russia, Europe, Canada or Alaska. The combination of these forests make up the largest mass of forests on the planet (approximately 30 percent of the world’s forest resources). This extreme ecosystem, where temperatures can reach -40°C in winter, absorbs more CO2 from the atmosphere than tropical or temperate forests combined. The Boreal Forest in Canada, for example, stores 186 million tons of carbon. 

Jiuzhaigou Valley Forest in China

The Jiuzhaigou Valley (Sichuan, China) became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and part of the Biosphere Reserve in 1997. The Jiuzhaigou National Park is a globally important site for the conservation of biodiversity due to its exceptional location: the transition zone that unites the Tibetan Plateau and the Sichuan River Basin, where the Minshan Mountains are located at 2,000 meters to 4,700 meters above sea level. In this spectacular enclave, which inspired the floating Pandora mountains in “Avatar” , there are 3,634 documented species of flora and fauna, including 3,553 native species. 

A Jurassic stronghold: Daintree Rainforest

The Daintree Rainforest enjoys a privileged location, elevated over the oldest rainforest in the world (in the Queensland region of Australia), making this rainforest a bastion of rarity and primitiveness worthy of UNESCO’s World Heritage List . The Daintree Rainforest contains 90 percent of Australia’s species of bats and butterflies , in addition to more than 12,000 species of insects. Some of the species of flora that can be considered actual witnesses of the evolution of planet Earth include some of the oldest plants in the world, such as the Psilotopsida and Lycopsida ferns or Agathis Kauri , a conifer considered the living counterpart of fossils from the Jurassic age. 

A forest of giant Sequoias

The giant Sequoias are some of the oldest trees in the world, and can live up to 3,000 years. Apart from their long lifespan, these trees are literally gigantic, and can reach the height of a 26 story building. This species of trees is considered the world’s largest living organism. In fact, a Sequoia known as General Sherman is 2,100 years old and 11 meters in diameter at the base.  The largest forest of Sequoias is in California (U.S.), in Sequoia National Park, covering 1,789 square km.

Forests cover a total of 31 percent of the Earth’s surface and are an essential component in the conservation of biodiversity and the fight against climate change. Furthermore, forests are indispensable to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals included in the Paris Agreement, as well as for the economic recovery following the COVID-19 crisis, as recognized by the United Nations, which has called for “the inclusion of sustainable forest-based actions in COVID-19 recovery programs and policies.” 

By Dory Gascueña for OpenMind

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Forests Are the Earth’s Lungs Essay

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Introduction

When searching for a public service announcement, I examined different images dealing with such vital issues as social injustice, abuse, sexism, and many others. However, I have decided to analyze the image of a global character and have chosen an advertisement of the World Wide Fund that reminds everyone on our planet about the importance of trees as the Earth’s lungs. The image speaks strongly to me because it uses symbolism to capture attention to the global problem of deforestation as the result of human activity.

The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate how imagery, composition, color, and symbols combine in one image to build a strong and socially important message. Every day new advertisements that call for environmental protection appear, but I want to show that this particular one perfectly illustrates how a visual image can invoke emotions through the symbols. This announcement is successful in creating an image that aims to affect people’s minds all around the globe and attract their attention to the problem of losing the planet’s lungs.

The first criterion by which I evaluate this image is the clarity of the message. When looking at the picture, one can see two big forests in the shape of the lungs, one of which is damaged. This malformation immediately draws the viewer’s attention because of its dark color that opposes the green color around. The image of the woods in the form of the human lungs manipulates the viewer’s mind by the truthfulness of its representation. The rivers flow through the forest as if the blood vessels run through the lungs. The sky is cloudy, which creates a gloomy light in the picture.

The second evaluation criterion is the power of the message. The gloomy landscape, the deficient beauty, and the feeling of destroyed health make the viewer think about the importance of forests for human existence. The comparison of the forest with the lungs creates a realistic vision that imitates the raw photo. The emphasis is put on the “ill” lung, which looks unnatural and has a deformed shape and structure. The damaged area of the “lungs” once was part of a green forest, but now we can see the equipment in its place. These details draw the viewer’s attention to the visual and powerful message, which provokes anger by the destruction made by human hands.

In the described image, pathos is a powerful rhetorical technique because of the use of the symbol of the lungs, which appeals to the viewers’ emotions and evokes the feelings that already reside in them. People should realize that they hurt not only the planet’s lungs but also the human ones. We are one with nature, and by killing it, we kill humans and deprive ourselves of normal breathing. For this reason, the symbol of the lungs is used here to easily convey this idea to the public and appeal to their emotions. Logos is also clear because of the obvious and logical statement of advertisement which tries to raise public awareness of the world problem. With the help of ethos, this ad has the power to influence human behavior and morals.

The woods are the lungs of our planet, which create oxygen and keep us breathing, but humans destroy nature through deforestation. By understanding the serious consequences of this issue, perfectly depicted in the image, we can fight this problem and clear the lungs of the poison. It is important for me and every human who is concerned about the future of our planet. This is a reminder that people have to fight to protect the world we live in.

World Wildlife Fund. “WWF Deforestation & Lungs Campaign.” 2020. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2022, February 20). Forests Are the Earth's Lungs. https://ivypanda.com/essays/forests-are-the-earths-lungs/

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The Earth Has Lungs. Watch Them Breathe.

What a difference a leaf makes! Well, not one leaf. We have 3.1 trillion trees on our planet—that’s 422 trees per person . If we count all the leaves on all those trees and take a look at what they do collectively to the air around us, the effect—and I do not exaggerate—is stunning. I’ve got a video from NASA. When you see it, I think your jaw is going to drop—just a little.

It tracks the flow of carbon dioxide across the planet over 12 months, starting in January. Most of the action takes place in the Northern Hemisphere because that’s where most of the land is, and so that’s where most of the trees are. The biggest temperate forests are in Canada, Siberia, and Scandinavia.

Here’s the thing about trees …

We know they absorb air. Their leaves gobble carbon dioxide, and then, with help from the sun, the carbon stays in the tree (as branches, trunks). Oxygen gets released.

Come winter, the leaves fall off, trees go bare. Without leaves, trees go quiet. Any extra CO2 is more likely to hang in the atmosphere—until June.

The Difference June Makes

That’s the month when trillions upon trillions of leaves are opening, growing, and starting to breathe, and what you will see in the video is their collective breath literally cleaning the sky. This video begins in January, but keep watching till we hit June (then July, then August). It’s like the world’s northern forests become a giant vacuum cleaner, scouring the air, sucking down the CO2 till around November.

When leaves fall, the situation reverses … and it feels a little scary. Take a look:

Consider the fantastic scale of this global dance. It starts, as I said, with 3.1 trillion trees. That’s the latest census, published a few months ago in the science journal Nature ( see page 201 ) by Yale’s Thomas Crowther, a Climate and Energy Institute postdoctoral fellow. If he’s right, there are more trees on Earth than there are stars in the Milky Way.

Now imagine how many leaves might be on all those trees. It’s a very big number. The University of Washington tried to come up with a leaf count for a “mature oak,” but oaks are so variable that they could only give us a range: 200,000 to half a million leaves per tree.

Next, look closely at any oak leaf or any leaf (or, for that matter, the surface of any green plant, even a blade of grass) with a magnifying glass. You’ll find little breathing tubes called stomata. That’s “mouth” in Greek, because, like mouths, they’re openings that allow outside air in.

I think of them more like lungs, often with squeezable openings. That’s where the carbon dioxide gets in and the oxygen slips out. Photographer Robert Dash used a scanning electron microscope to magnify the surface of an actual oak leaf 150 times, and all those little cheerio-like openings you see here? We’re going to point a few out …

… There are so, so many of them! On, say, a square millimeter of leaf—that’s one thousandth of a square inch—you might find a hundred to a thousand little lungs.

So consider:

If we multiply all those leafy lungs times all those leaves times all those trees and add grasses into the bargain, we’re talking about an unimaginably vast planetary breathing system—a giant green machine that pulls enormous quantities of carbon dioxide out of the air, especially in the warmer months.

That’s what the NASA video shows us: We can see the Green Machine turning on, then, a few months later, turning off. When it’s on, when the leaves are out, those ugly, poisonous-looking swirls of orange and red vanish from the sky. The machine works. And this happens every year. It’s as though the Earth itself has lungs.

But for all of its lung power, CO2 concentrations keep building in our atmosphere. We’re apparently pouring so much CO2 into the sky that the trees can’t keep up.

Twelve thousand years ago, the Yale study says, there were twice as many trees on Earth. Apparently, we need their help. We need more trees.

We really do.

To see who’s pouring the most carbon dioxide into the sky, take a look at this graphic from George Washington University. It shows that China, the U.S., India, and Russia are the biggest offenders, but every nation is listed in descending order of, um, villainy, so you can see how your favorite nation is doing.

Trees, meanwhile, aren’t the only CO2 removers on the planet. Oceans suck carbon dioxide as well. Animals eat carbon, die, and sink to the bottom of the sea. The White Cliffs of Dover are made from the skeletons of carbon-rich animals. Chalk is basically carbon storage.

So yes, plants aren’t the only ones cleaning the air—but it wouldn’t be a bad thing to have more of them.

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Lungs of the Earth

• 1. On the line of fire
• 2. Conservation drones
• 3. The forgotten bears
• 4. Guardians of the forest

The Lungs of the Earth

Jacopo Ottaviani

Photography and design: Isacco Chiaf

T he world’s forests, along with its oceans, absorb enormous amounts of the carbon dioxide that circulates in the atmosphere. They are, effectively, the Earth’s lungs, and protecting those lungs is crucial if we are to defend the planet’s biodiversity and fight global warming. But, between 1990 and 2015, the world lost 129 million hectares of forests, destroyed by chainsaws, fire and cement. Deforestation is advancing at an alarming pace: about 10 hectares of forest – the equivalent of 14 football fields – disappear every minute, the result mainly of human activities such as agriculture, the extraction of raw materials and urbanisation.

Source: Global Forest Resources Assessment (Fao, 2015)

Still, globally, the rate of deforestation has decreased over the past quarter of a century, and, in some regions, such as China and Europe, forests are expanding as reforestation and an increase in tree cultivation takes place. But, elsewhere, humankind remains a menace to forests. The main rainforest basins in the Amazon, Congo and Southeast Asia lose millions of hectares every year. In 2015 alone, Indonesia lost roughly 2.6 million hectares of forest – the result of one of the most damaging fires in recent times.

“I know the fire will be back next year. I know we don’t have the equipment we need and that we’ll have to fight it with our bare hands. But that doesn’t matter: we’ll fight it. Our spirit is the spirit of the forest." When he speaks of the forests in which he was born and raised, Basuki Budi Santoso’s eyes fill with tears. Making use of what little means they have at their disposal, Basuki and his small team from the Friends of the National Parks Foundation work to defend the Tanjung Puting reserve from the flames that periodically affect it. The park, which is located in Central Kalimantan, in the southern part of the island of Borneo, has been at the centre of the fires that struck Indonesia throughout 2015. Burning unabated for weeks, it turned about two million hectares of forest to cinder, mainly on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. Basuki’s base camp can be reached by navigating the River Kumai. A small dock leads to a path that crosses the forest, where beams of sunlight cut through the humidity and the water in the streams resembles the colour of tea. It takes a few hours of walking to reach the Beguruh reforestation area where Basuki and his men are trying to help the forest come back to life.

Basuki’s men are resting for a moment in the shade of a wooden shed. There are some hammocks, a gas burner for making coffee and an open air shower. A few metres away, pots are lined up. They hold the seedlings of trees. "This is our plant nursery," explains Basuki. This is where we look after the trees that will repopulate the forest that burned down." "The fires come back every year, especially from September onwards, in the dry season. And the fire keeps burning even when it seems to be extinguished, because it’s burning underground, in the peat," Basuki says. "When the fires come back, we work restlessly to extinguish them. At night, we take turns sleeping a few metres away from the flames; sometimes someone can lose their life, suffocated by the smoke. In times of respite we plant the trees back into the burnt areas instead, and prepare for our next battle." Basuki spends most of the year in the jungle of Central Kalimantan, coordinating the interventions against the fires and various reforestation projects. His salary allows him to fly twice a year to see his wife and two children, who live in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Indonesia in flames

Source: Global Fire Data

From September to October 2015, Indonesia was the scene of one of the most disastrous fires in recent years. Burning unabated for weeks, the flames affected more than 2.6 million hectares of forest, mainly in the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. Enormous clouds of smoke made it to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, with toxic gases inhaled by at least 43 million people. The Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics called the fires a "crime against humanity of extraordinary proportions". The most authoritative theories blame the fires on individuals interested in the acquisition of new lands – including some companies that produce palm oil – and on farmers who use the fire to prepare lands for cultivation. The dry season and the prolonged combustion within the vast peat stretches make extinguishing operations even more complicated.

Almost all fires detected in Indonesia are caused by mankind to prepare the lands for farming.

"Almost all fires detected in Indonesia are caused by man for farming reasons. A fire is the cheapest way to empty out the land for agriculture. Fires can be ignited by individuals who control vast plantations, or small farmers working in their own parcels of land with traditional methods," explains Peter Holmgren, the director of the Centre for International Forest Research (CIFOR), which is based in Bogor, near Jakarta, and researches tropical forests. In Indonesia, according to Global Fire Data’s estimates , more than 130,000 fires were detected in 2015 alone, producing almost two billion tonnes of greenhouse gases. That is more than the total produced by Germany or Japan in a year. Forest fires are a global problem. "According to Nasa and to the Global Fire Database, an average of 4.5 million hectares of rainforest go up in flames every year," explains Guido van der Werf, an Earth and life sciences researcher at the Free University of Amsterdam. "Almost all fires in tropical areas are caused by mankind."

“T he drone’s hardware can be bought with about $2,000, while the software for flying it is free and open source," explains Keeyen Pang, the director of Conservation Drones’ Asian operations, while his son builds a small drone and inserts its flight mission. "All you need to do is install a micro-camera on the drone to obtain a high definition mapping of the forest." "Our drones are a cheap and effective instrument against deforestation and support the conservation of nature," explains Lian Pin Koh, a professor of Applied Ecology at Adelaide University. Along with the Swiss biologist Serge Wich, Lian Pin Koh is the founder of Conservation Drones , a non-profit organization that brings together an international group of ecology experts and remote controlled aircraft enthusiasts.

An area of the Gunung Leuser national park, in Indonesia, has been cut down illegally, as detected by the Conservation Drones team. A strip of trees and plants has been left along the river to hide the deforested area.

Source: Conservation Drones

"We’ve been helping the environmental defence organisation drones fly since 2012. It’s important to supply low cost technology, mainly in developing countries, to fly over hard to access areas and control their state of conservation," the co-founders of Conservation Drones tell us. "Conservation Drones often gets cooperation proposals from organisations from all over the world. Over time, our network of experts in drones for conservation has expanded," explains Keeyen Pang, as he checks the final configurations and prepares for the test launch.

In Southeast Asia drones allow the mapping of palm oil cultivations, one of the primary causes of deforestation in the region

Lian Pin Koh and Serge Wich’s drones fly over Tanzania, where they are used to monitor chimpanzee conservation. They fly in Suriname, where a project for monitoring the virgin forests is in progress. In Indonesia, where they are used to observe the endangered orangutan population. And in the rest of Southeast Asia, where drones are useful for the mapping of palm oil cultivations, one of the primary causes of deforestation in the region. Conservation Drones’ flight missions are already producing tangible results. "In 2014, for example, images taken by our aircrafts have detected an illegally deforested area in a Sumatran natural reserve," Lian Pin Koh proudly explains. "Our images have been used as proof by the Indonesian authorities, and the perpetrators of this crime have been put on trial."

I n a remote corner of the Sabah rainforest, at the north-eastern end of the island of Borneo, a small team of zoologists is working for the conservation of a little-known animal: The sun bear. The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre , founded in 2008 by Malaysian zoologist Wong Siew Te, is the only reserve in the world where this endangered species is actively preserved. "Not many people can imagine that these bears live in the tropical forest too, to the extent that we have nicknamed them ‘the forgotten bears’," says Tee Thye Lim, who is in charge of the bears in the conservation centre who have been removed from captivity. "Unfortunately, even though they are not well-known worldwide or perhaps because of this, they are endangered. In the past 30 years we have lost about 30 percent of specimens." In some Southeast Asian regions, sun bear cubs are captured to be kept as pets, only to be abandoned once they grow larger. They are also victims of illegal commerce, as in Chinese medicine the bears’ gallbladders and paws are believed to have healing powers. In addition to this, deforestation – mainly caused by the cultivation of palm oil – has considerably reduced their natural habitat. The centre’s experts explain that the extinction of sun bears would cause a chain reaction in the forest’s ecosystem. "Plants and animals live in harmony and the removal of a single species can disrupt the jungle’s balance. The sun bears, for example, are true engineers of the forest," Tee Thye Lim explains. "When looking for the honey they feed on, they make cavities within the trees where other animals, such as the great hornbill, will then find shelter."

Source: The IUCN Red List of threatened species (2016)

The sun bear of Borneo is just one of the many currently endangered species on our planet. According to the red list compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), at least 20,000 species of plants and animals are currently at risk of disappearing from this planet. And that doesn’t even present the full picture, as not every species of animal and plant has been examined by biologists.

The destruction of natural habitats, the commercial exploitation of lands, pollution and climate change are some of the main causes of worldwide biodiversity loss

The destruction of natural habitats, the commercial exploitation of lands, pollution and climate change are some of the main causes of worldwide biodiversity loss. "We are in the heart of a biodiversity crisis. We are losing about 1,000 species of animals and plants every year," explains Professor Henrique Pereira, the head of research at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research at Leipzig University. "Biodiversity is fundamental for the planet’s balance, but also for the health of humankind. Many of the medicines we use come from compounds extracted from animals or plants. Every time a plant or an animal becomes extinct, we lose our chance to discover compounds which can potentially be useful for the invention of a new medication."

A smartphone, fastened to a tree trunk in the rainforest, powered by solar panels and with an active microphone constantly connected to the internet is the concept behind Rainforest Connection , It is a device created by Topher White, a young engineer and physicist from San Francisco. "The device created by Topher allows people to listen to the sounds of the forest remotely, using a simple smartphone," says James Reed as, harnessed within his equipment, he handles an odd plastic box with an antenna. "I’m here to help Topher construct the devices, here in the forests of Borneo. And in the meantime I’m teaching the local communities to climb safely, so that in the future they can install and look after the devices themselves." Rainforest Connection’s devices transmit the incoming audio to the cloud, from which a computer programme can examine the inputted sounds. When the software detects an unusual sound, such as the rumble of a chainsaw or the shot of a rifle, an alarm message is sent to the local authorities or to those associations that can take action to stop illegal deforestation or poaching.

How does Rainforest Connection work?

Source: Rain Forest Connection

"We’re testing Rainforest Connection in all the tropical forests in the world. Our objective is to manage to protect 20 to 30 hectares using Rainforest Connection within the next two years," explains Topher White, who spends half of his time in his San Francisco lab and the other half in rainforests all over the world. "It’s fundamental for us to set up partnerships with local communities and organisations working to defend the forests," explains Topher White. "Initiatives such as James Reed’s Tree Monkey are fundamental for us. James and his team help us to physically install the devices and organise climbing training sessions to teach the local communities to climb the tallest rainforest trees safely." According to Topher White’s estimates, a single device can detect the sound of a chainsaw within an area of about three square kilometres. This means that using just a few devices, positioned in strategic areas (for example the forest’s access points), wide stretches of forest can be protected.

A simple cellphone connected to the internet can become a guardian of the forest

Topher White came up with the idea for the device in a rainforest. "In 2011, I was in Kalimantan, in Indonesia. I was walking through the jungle with my local guide when we came across an area which had been cut down illegally. The enraged local guide told me how hard it was to stop these activities despite the presence of forest rangers. So I realised that a simple phone connected to the internet could have been transformed into a sentry, and I spent the past years developing the device’s engineering." Rainforest Connection’s devices can potentially also be applied in other settings. The sound transmitted by the cloud can be used by researchers to examine, for example, animal migration or to monitor the rhythm of an ecosystem. Or, more simply, it can be turned into a radio to listen to the forest’s orchestra from your own armchair, at home. "We’ve recently started a web radio that allows anyone, in any part of the world, to listen to live forest sounds. At the moment it’s only available to anyone who decides to make a donation and help us transform even more smartphones into forest guardians."

The evolution of forests from 1990 to 2015

"Forests are disappearing on a global level at a rate that is an object of scientific debate. Data provided by the United Nations reveals a reduction of deforestation over the past decades," explains Peter Holmgren, the director of the Centre for International Forestry Research. "This is good news, but in certain regions of the world such as Indonesia, Brazil and Central Africa we are still losing forests at a worrying rate."

Ensuring the ‘lungs of the planet’ keep us alive: 5 things you need to know about forests and the UN

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Forests are vitally important for sustaining life on Earth, and play a major role in the fight against climate change. With the 2019 session of the United Nations Forum on Forests wrapping up on Friday in New York, we delve deeper into the subject, and find out what the UN is doing to safeguard and protect them.

1. Forests are the most cost-effective way to fight climate change

Arguably, protection and enhancing the world’s forests is one of the most cost-effective forms of climate action: forests act as carbon sinks, absorbing roughly 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.  Sustainable forest management can build resilience and help mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Speaking at the 2018 UN climate conference ( COP24 ) in Katowice, Poland, Liu Zhemin, head of the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), said that “forests are central in developing solutions both to mitigate and adapt to climate change, adding that “these terrestrial ecosystems have already removed nearly one third of human-produced carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. Through sustainable forest management, they could remove much more.”

At this week’s meeting session of the UNFF, it was noted that forest-based climate change mitigation and adaptation actions, if fully implemented, could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 15 gigatonnes of CO2 a year by 2050, which could potentially be enough to limit warming to well below 2°C (the target set by the international community in 2015). Today, fossil fuels emit 36 gigatonnes every year.

In addition, as renewable sources increasingly replace fossil fuels, forests will become more and more important as sources of energy: already, forests supply about 40 per cent of global renewable energy in the form of wood fuel – as much as solar, hydroelectric and wind power combined.

2. The goal of zero deforestation is close to being reached

Significant progress has been made in international forest protection over the past 25 years. The rate of net global deforestation has slowed by more than 50 per cent, a credit to global efforts to sustainably manage existing forests, while at the same time engaging in ambitious measures to restore degraded forests and land, and to plant more trees to meet the demand for forest products and services. 

The goal of zero net global deforestation is close to being reached, bringing the world one step closer to the UN Strategic Plan for Forest’s target to expand global forest area by 3 per cent by 2030, an area of 120 million hectares, about the size of South Africa.

3. The biggest threat to forests is…agriculture

Many people will be aware of the devastating effects that illegal and unsustainable logging has on forests, but the biggest global driver of deforestation is actually agriculture, because of the extent to which forests are converted to farmland and livestock grazing land: a key challenge is how to manage the ongoing increase in agricultural production, and improve food security, without reducing overall forest areas.

A major UN report on biodiversity , released in May, made headlines around the world with its headline figure of one million species at risk of extinction, warned against the destruction of forests, noting that this “will likely have negative impacts on biodiversity and can threaten food and water security as well as local livelihoods, including by intensifying social conflict.”

4. The UN’s growing role in forest protection

The first time forests came to the forefront of the international agenda was at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, widely regarded as one of the landmark UN conferences. The Summit led to the adoption of Agenda 21, the first significant international action plan for achieving sustainable development, which noted the “major weaknesses in the policies, methods and mechanisms adopted to support and develop the multiple ecological, economic, social and cultural roles of trees, forests and forest lands.”

The Earth Summit also saw the adoption of the Forest Principles which, although non-legally binding, was the first global consensus reached on the sustainable management of forests. The Principles called for all countries to make efforts towards reforestation and forest conservation; enshrined the right of nations to develop forests in keeping with national sustainable development policies; and called for financial resources to be provided for targeted economic policies.

To better co-ordinate international efforts to put the principles into practice, an inter-governmental panel and forum were set up in the 1990s, to be replaced in 2000 by the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF), which meets every year at UN Headquarters in New York to monitor progress on the implementation of the six Global Forest Goals.

The Goals set targets for the sustainable management of forests, and reduction of deforestation and forest degradation, and were developed as part the forest community’s response to the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN’s overall blueprint for economic progress that protects the environment and humanity.

5. This year’s top priorities: climate change and the real cost of deforestation

One of the key take-aways from the 2019 session of the UN Forest Forum was that, too often, forests are under-valued, because it’s hard to put a clear monetary value on all of the positive contributions they make to the world.

As a result, the true cost of deforestation and forest degradation is not taken into account when policy decisions are made on land use, such as decisions to clear forest land to use for commercial agriculture. 

The importance of financing was another important element of the session:  sufficient funding is an essential element in ensuring effective action to halt deforestation and forest degradation, promote greater sustainable forest management and increase the world’s forest area: despite the central role forests play in protecting the environment, only 2 per cent of funds available for climate change mitigation are available for efforts to reduce deforestation.

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Trees are much more than the lungs of the world (commentary)

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• Agroforestry is a technique of growing trees and shrubs with crops, and is the focus of a new Mongabay series.
• Beside carbon sequestration, increased food security, biodiversity, topsoil depths, medicine and fiber production, plus other benefits accrue to agroforestry.
• Roger Leakey has studied, taught, and written about agroforestry techniques for decades and makes the point that trees are much more than ‘the lungs of the planet,’ but rather they also function like the skin, heart, kidneys, and intestines of the Earth, while acting as pharmacies, factories, and food pantries for humans.
• This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

There are two important answers to the question “why do we need more trees in farmland?” One is global and one is local.

Globally, trees are often recognized as the ‘lungs of the world’ because they exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the atmosphere. However, this is an understatement. If we think in these terms, trees are also the kidneys of the world as they regulate the flow and use of water by intercepting rain and releasing it slowly to the ground where it can either run off into rivers, or enter the groundwater. Plants can then absorb it for use in photosynthesis. This absorbed water is then transpired back to the atmosphere and blown on the wind until it falls as rain somewhere else.

Thus, trees are also like the skin of the world, being the interface between the vegetation and the atmosphere for the exchange of gases and water.

Similarly, trees are like the intestines of the world exchanging nutrients between the soil and the vegetation, fueling the nutrient and carbon cycle.

Finally, they are like the heart of the world, as they drive the ecosystems that make the world healthy and function properly. They do this by providing a very large number of niches for other organisms to inhabit, both above and below ground. Recent evidence has reported 2.3 million organisms on a single tree – mostly microbes – but also numerous insects and even bigger animals like mammals and birds. Others also live in the soil or, due to the microclimates created by the physical stature of the tree, on the associated herbs and bushes. It is all these organisms that provide the ecological services of soil formation and nutrient recycling, feeding off each other and creating an intricate web of food chains.

All this is important for the maintenance of nature’s balance that prevents weed, pest, and disease explosions. They also provide services like pollination, essential for the regeneration of most plants, not to mention the very topical regulation of carbon storage essential for climate control.

At the local level, in addition to these ‘bodily functions,’ trees produce a wide range of products useful to us, and are often traded in local markets. There are literally tens of thousands of trees that produce edible and/or useful products – sources of items of day-to-day importance for us. So, we can also think of trees as shops, civic services, and industries. Thinking in this way, a treed landscape becomes similar to a town made up of supermarkets full of everyday needs; a bank providing annual interest on investment; a drug store or health clinic for medicines; a water tower; an art gallery; a zoo full of wildlife; a guardian of culture like a museum; a hotel providing rest for migrants; a tourist center for over-wintering or summer breeding habitat; a nightclub for nocturnal creatures; factories for fertilizers, pesticides and drugs; an energy provider, and even a skyscraper affecting the flow of wind around the other buildings.

Using this analogy, we can see that by destroying trees we destroy facilities and functions important for life. Conversely, by planting trees we can multiply the products and services we need for a ‘good life’ in many different ways. In some places, trees are grown in large monoculture plantations, replicating the concept of a housing estate or industrial complex. This can be very productive but isn’t necessarily good for the environment. Alternatively, they can be grown at different densities and in different species configurations and for different products in association with food crops, livestock and cash crops.

This mixed cropping is known as ‘agroforestry’, a farming system which thrives off diversity and maximizes the availability of all the different benefits of trees and their services. In this way, agroforestry is highly beneficial to us – Homo sapiens – a dominant species in this agroecosystem. Agroforestry harnesses numerous environmental, social and economic benefits for our complex lifestyles.

This is especially important in the tropics and sub-tropics where poverty-stricken subsistence farmers struggle to feed their families and scratch a living off highly degraded land. In this situation, it can be described as hunger busting since it can improve food crop yields on exhausted soils; farmer-friendly as it has numerous social benefits including enhanced livelihoods; wildlife-friendly as it provides habitat; climate friendly as it mitigates climate change and controls water flows; wealth-promoting by producing marketable products for businesses and industries, and health-giving by producing nutritious and medicinal products. So, we could create a new, green, and much more sustainable economy.

Looking to the future, there are easily enough useful tree species for agroforestry to play all of the above roles in any corner of the inhabited world, very few of which have been cultivated to date. Interestingly, each of these species contains inherent 3- to 10-fold genetic variability at any one site, so it is easy to find and propagate individual trees that display an infinite number of useful and marketable traits suitable for a new array of businesses and industries.

However, we have hardly begun to identify the economic possibilities and need to do much more to explore all this potential. Maybe if we pursue this line of thinking, we can create useful and environmentally healthy rural landscapes which are as diverse as their urban counterparts, and create win–win–win scenarios combining better land husbandry, social empowerment, and income generation. I believe agroforestry has a bright future, but we need to learn how to manage this resource so that all people can share the benefits in harmony.

I hope this colloquial expression of the value of trees explains why agroforestry is becoming increasingly recognized as being critical if we are to manage our planet sustainably. This is particularly vital where currently the land has been deforested and degraded because trees are considered to get in the way of modern mechanized agriculture, in which monocultures are the order of the day.

Roger Leakey is Vice Chairman of the International Tree Foundation, Vice President of the International Society of Tropical Foresters, and is author of “Living with the Trees of Life – Towards the Transformation of Tropical Agriculture” (2012) and “ Multifunctional Agriculture – Achieving Sustainable Development in Africa. ” Learn more about his work at www.rogerleakey.com .

This article is part of a new Mongabay series about the global scope of agroforestry, see all the features here .

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Essay on Forest for Students in 500 Words

• Updated on  
• Jan 19, 2024

Essay on Forest: ‘Do you remember the quote by Henry David Thoreau, ‘I took a walk in the woods and came out taller.’ Forests are part of our natural environment and are essential for sustaining the planet. Forests are home to flora and fauna. Trees release oxygen into the atmosphere and take the carbon dioxide. Based on the geographical conditions, there are 5 types of forests: Coniferous, Deciduous, Mixed, Mediterranean Forests and Tropical Rainforests. Continue reading to find out more about essay on forest.

Also Read : Essay on Deforestation: 100, 300 Words

Significance of Forests

In an ecosystem, forests are an essential part. They provide us oxygen, remove carbon-dioxide from air, etc. For healthy functioning of our planet, forests are incredibly significant.

If there are no forests, then human civilisation would cease to exist because we are dependent on them for many essential resources such as wood, paper, food, timber, etc. Forests provide home to many species of plants, insects, animals, etc.

They also house microorganisms. On the well being of weather also, forests have an ultimate impact as they filter air and water, regulate the weather as well as the changes in the climate.

Importance of Forest Conservation

Forest conservation is a necessary step to sustain the planet for future generations.

• Forests help the prevention of soil erosion and enrich and conserve soil.
• Forests help prevent hazardous events like floods and landslides.
• Forests are hubs of trees, which supply us with food and oxygen.
• Forest conservation is crucial for maintaining biodiversity.
• Forests give us various resources such as timber, medicinal plants, and other natural products.
• Forest conservation will ensure the diverse wildlife remains intact.
• Various indigenous communities are connected with forests for their cultural and spiritual significance.
• Forests serve as great places for recreation and tourism.
• Forest conservation will help regulate regional temperature, weather patterns, and the overall health of the planet.

Also Read: Essay on Save Trees

How to Improve Forest Cover?

The National Forest Policy of India proposed that at least 33% of the land must be under forest cover. This would ensure ecological balance and strengthen its well-being. The following steps can be taken to improve forest cover. 

• Planting more trees is one of the best ways to increase forest cover.
• Deforestation is one of the major reasons why forest cover is depleting. Therefore, it must be stopped.
• Following the practice of Reforestation. It involves replanting trees in deforested areas, which were earlier part of a forest.
• Involving the participation of local and indigenous communities.
• Educating people about the importance of forest preservation.
• Practising sustainable logging. This will ensure that only a limited number of trees are harvested and that regeneration is allowed.
• Managing protected areas and national parks to protect endangered species.

Also Read: Essay on Environment

Causes of Deforestation

Deforestation is the main reason why forest cover is shrinking and affecting everyone on the planet. Annually 10% of global warming is caused by forest loss and damage. There are multiple reasons why people practice deforestation.

• Illegal logging practices destroy the livelihood of indigenous communities.
• The increased practice of mining results in the clearing of a large forest area for digging excavation pits and constructing roads.
• Forest fires have become more prevalent, which have both natural and man-made causes.
• Urbanization or industrialization, where a large number of trees are cut down.
• Agricultural expansion, as the demand for food items is increasing.
• climate change, which is making forests more susceptible to diseases, pests, and wildfires.

Forests serve as the lifeline for environmental sustainability. Forests play a crucial role in maintaining the ecological balance. Therefore, we must ensure that our activities don’t affect this balance of the ecosystem.

Also Read: Essay on Save Environment

Free Quotes on Forests for Students

Here are some quotes on forests for students. Feel free to add them to your essay topics and impress your teacher and classmates.

• ‘The clear way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.’ – John Muir
• ‘And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.’ – John Muir
• ‘Trees are the Earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.’ – Rabindranath Tagore
• ‘The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.’ – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• ‘We won’t have a society if we destroy the environment.’ – Margaret Mead
• ‘A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.’ – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Also Read: How to Prepare for UPSC in 6 Months?

Ans: Forests are considered the lungs of our land, as they consume carbon dioxide and release fresh oxygen into the atmosphere. According to the National Forest Policy, a minimum of 33% of land should be under forest cover to ensure environmental sustainability. Human activities like agricultural expansion, deforestation, mining, logging, etc. have greatly reduced the forest cover all across the globe. It is high time that we educate ourselves and take preventive measures to increase the forest cover so that the ecological balance is maintained.

Ans: Deforestation refers to clearing the forest land. There are multiple causes of deforestation, such as illegal logging, mining, rapid urbanization or industrialization, agricultural expansion, forest fires, soil erosion, etc.

Ans: Some of the basic steps to improve forest cover are practicing deforestation and reforestation, educating people about the importance of forest cover, encouraging indigenous people to participate in taking care of the forest lands, managing protected areas and national parks, etc.

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Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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Essay on Uses of Forest

Students are often asked to write an essay on Uses of Forest in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Uses of Forest

Introduction.

Forests, the green lungs of our planet, are essential for life. They provide us with many resources and services.

Oxygen Production

Forests are the world’s oxygen factories. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, helping to maintain a healthy atmosphere.

Home to Wildlife

Forests are habitats for countless species. From birds to beasts, many animals depend on forests for shelter and food.

Source of Raw Materials

Forests provide us with timber, fruits, and medicinal plants. These resources are vital for our survival and well-being.

Climate Control

Forests help regulate climate by absorbing greenhouse gases. They play a key role in combating global warming.

Also check:

250 Words Essay on Uses of Forest

The importance of forests.

Forests, the world’s most dynamic, naturally renewable resource, play a critical role in maintaining the planet’s health. They are not just dense collections of trees but complex, interdependent ecosystems that support a vast array of life forms.

Carbon Sequestration and Climate Regulation

Forests act as the planet’s lungs, absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. They are vital in mitigating climate change by sequestering carbon, thus offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. The dense vegetation also contributes to local and global climate regulation by influencing weather patterns and maintaining rainfall cycles.

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Forests are biodiversity hotspots, providing habitats for countless species of flora and fauna, many of which are yet to be discovered. They offer ecosystem services like nutrient cycling and soil preservation, which are essential for maintaining the planet’s overall ecological balance.

Economic Value

Forests also hold significant economic value. They provide timber, non-timber forest products, and medicinal plants, supporting the livelihoods of millions of people globally. They also contribute to tourism industries, attracting visitors with their natural beauty and diverse wildlife.

Water Cycle Regulation and Soil Conservation

In conclusion, forests are multifaceted ecosystems with diverse uses that extend beyond their apparent resources. Their preservation is crucial for maintaining the planet’s health, biodiversity, and economic stability. Thus, understanding and acknowledging the uses of forests is a step towards sustainable development and environmental conservation.

500 Words Essay on Uses of Forest

Introduction: the integral role of forests.

Forests, the lungs of our planet, play an integral role in the global ecosystem. They are responsible for maintaining the balance of life on Earth, contributing significantly to biodiversity, climate regulation, and human livelihoods. The multifaceted uses of forests extend beyond their ecological significance, encompassing economic, social, and cultural dimensions.

Economic Significance of Forests

Moreover, forests provide ecosystem services that indirectly support economic activities. For instance, forests regulate water cycles, maintaining the health of watersheds that are vital for agriculture and hydroelectric power generation.

Ecological Importance of Forests

Forests play a pivotal role in mitigating climate change by acting as carbon sinks, absorbing approximately 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. They also serve as a habitat for a vast array of flora and fauna, supporting over 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity.

Social and Cultural Significance of Forests

Forests are home to many indigenous communities who depend on them for their livelihood, cultural identity, and spiritual beliefs. They provide food, firewood, and medicinal plants, playing a pivotal role in sustaining these communities.

In addition, forests offer recreational opportunities such as hiking, bird-watching, and camping, promoting mental well-being and contributing to the tourism industry.

Forest Conservation: A Shared Responsibility

Despite their immense value, forests are under threat due to deforestation, climate change, and over-exploitation. It is essential for us to acknowledge the multiple uses of forests and their significance in sustaining life on Earth.

Forest conservation should be a shared global responsibility. Implementing sustainable forest management practices, promoting reforestation, and strengthening legal frameworks to protect forests and indigenous rights are crucial steps towards preserving these invaluable ecosystems.

Conclusion: The Multidimensional Value of Forests

Forests are not just a collection of trees; they embody a complex, intertwined system of life that supports the planet in myriad ways. Their economic, ecological, and socio-cultural uses are testament to their indispensable role in our world. As we continue to grapple with global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss, the importance of forests and their sustainable management becomes ever more critical. Recognizing and respecting the multifaceted uses of forests is a vital step towards a sustainable future for all.

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Tropical rainforests, 'lungs' of the planet, reveal true sensitivity to global warming

Tropical rainforests are often called the “lungs of the planet” because they generally draw in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. But the amount of carbon dioxide they absorb, or produce, varies hugely with year-to-year variations in the climate. A new paper published this week in the journal Nature shows that these variations reveal how vulnerable the rainforest is to climate change.

Dr Chris Huntingford, a climate modeller with the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) joined a team of scientists from the University of Exeter and the Met Office Hadley Centre to carry out the study.

The study reveals a new way to find out how sensitive biological systems are to changes in climate. The key was to learn how to read the year-to-year variations in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The paper's lead author, Professor Peter Cox of the University of Exeter, explained that scientists have been struggling for more than a decade to answer the question of whether the Amazon forest will die back under climate change. He said, "Our study indicates that the risk is low if climate change is associated with increased plant growth under elevated carbon dioxide. But if this effect declines, or climate warming occurs due to something other than a carbon dioxide increase, we expect to see a significant release of carbon from tropical ecosystems."

Carbon dioxide increases each year as a result of burning fossil fuels and deforestation. But the amount it goes up from one year to the next depends on whether tropical forests are absorbing carbon dioxide or releasing it – and this in turn depends on whether the tropical climate was warmer and dryer than usual, or wetter and cooler. So the trace of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere holds a record of how the lungs of the planet respond when the climate warms or cools.

The team studied how these year-to-year variations in carbon dioxide concentration relate to long-term changes in the amount of carbon stored in tropical rainforests. They found that climate models that predicted tropical forest dieback under climate change also had a very large year-to-year variation in carbon dioxide concentration, while models in which the rainforest was more robust to climate change had more realistic year-to-year variation in carbon dioxide concentration.

By combining this relationship with the year-to-year variation in carbon dioxide as seen in the real world, the team were able to determine that about 50 billion tonnes of carbon would be released for each degree Celsius of warming in the tropics. Peter Cox said the findings were initially a relief: “Fortunately, this carbon release is counteracted by the positive effects of carbon dioxide fertilisation on plant growth under most scenarios of the 21st century, so that overall forests are expected to continue to accumulate carbon.”

The researchers are certain, however, that tropical forests will suffer under climate change if carbon dioxide doesn’t fertilise tree growth as strongly as climate models suggest, saying that the long-term health of tropical forests depends on their ability to withstand multiple pressures from changing climate and deforestation.

Additional information

The University of Exeter  issued a press release about this paper.

The full paper title is "Sensitivity of tropical carbon to climate change constrained by carbon dioxide variability". DOI: 10.1038/nature11882

Why forests are called the lungs of the earth?

Forest are called the lungs of nature because they are source of oxygen in the atmosphere. the plants release oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. the plants help to provide oxygen to animals for respiration. they also maintain the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. that is why forests are called green lungs of the earth..

Why are forest called lungs of nature?

Forests are the lungs of the earth. Destruction of the world’s forest amounts to death of the world we currently know. To what extent do you agree or disagree.

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