Deforestation In Asia Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand

Problems

• Increased logging of mountain forests in Southeast Asia increases greenhouse gas emissions

  In Southeast Asia, forests are being cleared at ever higher altitudes and on steeper slopes to make way for agricultural intensification. As a result, more than 400 million metric tons of carbon are emitted into the atmosphere each year as forests in the region are cleared, a figure that has increased in recent years.
  
  Professor Dominic Spracklen of the Leeds School of Earth and Environment said: "Most lowland rainforests in Southeast Asia have already been cleared for agriculture. In the past, mountain forests were often not cleared because steep slopes and high elevations made logging difficult. Our work shows that deforestation has shifted to mountain areas and accelerated rapidly over the past 10 years."
  
  These mountain forests are amazingly biodiverse and are crucial carbon stores, so it is worrisome that the edge of deforestation is now shifting upward into the mountains of Southeast Asia.
  "The loss of these forests would be a devastating blow to nature and would further accelerate climate change," says Dominic Spracklen.
  
  Professor Joseph Holden of the Leeds School of Geography, co-author of the study, said: "Forested mountains are critical areas for biodiversity, future climate resilience, water supply, and carbon storage. The loss of upland forests in mountain regions of Southeast Asia over the past 20 years is a major concern, especially since these regions are also areas with concentrations of sensitive species and high carbon stocks. This study demonstrates the value of high-resolution satellite data for detecting change, and also emphasizes that the international community needs to continue to work hard to support forest conservation and carbon management."

• How does deforestation affect climate?

  Deforestation, especially the destruction of tropical forests, is a significant factor in climate change. Every tree absorbs carbon dioxide from the environment during its life cycle, and the accumulated carbon is released when a tree is destroyed. In other words, in the context of climate change, the most important thing about mature forests is not that they reduce the amount of CO2 in the air, but that they are huge reservoirs of stored carbon. If such a forest is cut down, much of that carbon is returned to the atmosphere, multiplying the stored CO2. Tropical forests contain over 210 gigatons of carbon, and deforestation accounts for about 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions contribute to higher temperatures, changing weather patterns, and an increased frequency of extreme weather events.

• The consequences of deforestation

  At the moment, the problem of tree felling is relevant to all continents of the earth, but the problem is most acute in Asian countries. The territory freed from trees turns into a poor landscape, becoming uninhabitable.
  
  Uncontrolled destruction of forest lands in Southeast Asia can lead to the following consequences:
  
  ● extinction of certain species of fauna and flora;
  ● loss of species diversity;
  ● increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere;
  ● soil erosion leading to deserts;
  ● waterlogging of the area with a high groundwater table.
  
  If unchecked deforestation in Asia were to go unchecked now, the consequences would be irreversible for ecology and humanity.