Land Use: Greenhouse Gases
According to the United Nations climate change report, greenhouse gases and emissions caused by land use make up 22% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. This is an astonishing number to me because by clearing out the land you wouldn't think that we are putting more bad chemicals into the air. All that we think of it is cleaning out some trees that are in the way of something we, as humans, want to be there instead. Although a lot of things we use land for is good, we have to find alternate ways to clear things out because these gases are so poor for the environment and atmosphere.
In the UN climate change report, published by The Conversation, Mark Howden states that "Improving how we manage the land could reduce climate change at the same time as it improves agricultural sustainability, supports biodiversity, and increases food security." Moral of the story is, we need to do a better job protecting our national forests. Whether we like it or not, forests are a huge part of our environment and if we continue to wipe them out carelessly, then climate change will only continue to get worse. The article also states that there is no way to keep global warming under 2℃ without significant reductions in land sector emissions."
All that this article proves is that we need to be more careful with how we are using the land. If not, then we will just have to pay the consequences with climate change slowly wearing the Earth down to where it is eventually inhabitable.
Chase Rankin
I found your post very interesting. I never thought about how we emit gases into the air by cutting down trees, but it makes sense. By cutting trees down we are decreasing the the amount of oxygen that is emitted by trees through photosynthesis, in other words trees clean our atmosphere. In the regards to photosynthesis, it makes sense that by cutting down trees we are experiencing a rise in gases. I also agree with you on how we need to be more careful with how we use our land.
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