State of the Environment

The current state of the earth's global environment in light of the ongoing climate crisis.

It is an established knowledge that planet Earth is the only celestial body currently known to have water present on its surface. Together with the terrestrial masses throughout the planet and oxygen to breathe, it forms the perfect equilibrium to sustain life. However, throughout history, human activities have caused significant damage to Earth’s environment.

Currently, certain regions in Africa, the Middle East and China have become unsuitable for human survival due to extreme desertification (loss of the natural biological productivity of an area of land) because of unsustainable human activities. Not only this but the increased production of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide trap heat within the Earth’s atmosphere and cause the planet to warm up at an alarming rate. As the temperatures rise, the ice and glaciers present at the poles of Earth melt and merge with the oceans, which cover almost 70% of the planet’s surface, leading to an unsustainable increase in sea levels. Recently, several island nations have sunk due to a global rise in sea levels.

The only way to offset the current crisis and prevent such catastrophes from occurring in the future is through swift remedial action and the establishment of a long-term solution. One such solution is afforestation. Several countries in Europe and West Asia have implemented forest-protection policies for many years on the national level. Moreover, international environmental protection agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol have also garnered importance globally. Forests are a crucial part of the Earth’s ecosystem and biodiversity and are vital for human survival. These dense, natural ecosystems provide several other benefits, some of which are listed below:

• Tackling Global Warming Forests act as thermal regulators, cooling down the Earth’s surface, the perfect way to tackle global warming. Forests are naturally excellent at capturing carbon dioxide from the air and storing it, reducing the amount of CO2 in the air that traps the Sun’s reflected heat. Furthermore, forests impact the rainfall on Earth, while trees help restore nutrient-rich topsoil and restrict it from erosion. Overall, forests have a massive positive impact on the Earth’s environment. Scientists have urged humanity to keep the rise in global temperature below 1.5 ºC to avoid catastrophic weather events, and forests naturally do just that.

• Forests mass-produce oxygen Besides storing carbon dioxide, forests use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and release oxygen, an essential need for human survival. In addition to our need for oxygen, forests provide sustenance to nearly a billion of the world’s population. Thus, we need forests more than they need us.

• Biodiversity Forests cover about one-third of the planet’s land surface. Besides supporting human needs, forests provide thousands of animal, plant and fungal species with shelter and sustenance and house more than 80% of the entire planet’s terrestrial biodiversity.