“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
- Warren Buffett
Trees play a vital role in our lives. It balances the ecosystem. But what if they fade away? What if we cut them all?
A tree from a plant takes a lot of care, maintenance, and time, which is being destroyed in minutes. The world is reducing its tree count day by day. It's still a big number but it will be fished if we go on like this. We all raise our voice to save the trees, but it's just a saying.
Over one-third of habitable land consists of forests. However, the global forest area has been decreasing over the years due to the expansion of agriculture. Agriculture, in the coming years, has been a great reason for deforestation. According to our world in data, Humanity has destroyed one-third of the forest through agricultural expansion.
A survey record from our world data shows the record of the expansion of agriculture and an increase in deforestation.
Another reason for deforestation is human needs and human luxuries. For example, according to the World Wildlife Fund, it takes about 17 trees to produce a ton of toilet paper. That means that if you use a roll of toilet paper every day, you’re responsible for cutting down about 0.000004 trees per year. In 2023, about 46 million metric tons of toilet paper were produced in The United States. Approximately, around 27 million trees are used every year just for toilet paper and this number is just for the US.
But when we talk about numbers, there's still one question that keeps our ape mind thinking and get curious about is;
According to a 2015 study, around 3.04 trillion trees are left on Earth including all those evergreen forests. Countries like Russia, Canada, Brazil, The United States, China. Dem. Rep. Congo, Indonesia, Australia, Bolivia, and Mexico come under the list of countries having the most trees.
Well, when we see 3.04 with a 'Trillion', it seems to be a big number but when compared to the Land Surface of the Earth, It's not a good number.
Earth has approximately, 36 billion acres of land. If we take a round figure it's 85 trees per acre. Is it a good thing?
Globally, an estimated 15.3 billion trees are cut down each year. Whereas another study from 2015 has given an estimate that 45% of the World's forest has been cleared till now (i.e. since 12,000 yr ago) for activities like agriculture, residence, etc. Around 10 million hectares of land have been cleared every year.
But this is not it. This number keeps on increasing year by year.
We all know that trees play a crucial role for each organism on this planet from providing oxygen, medicine, and food to providing the environment and controlling the temperature.
Let's talk about the basics first,
The Greenhouse Effect
Before talking about the effects, first, what is it really?
The Greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon where the belt of atmosphere around the Earth, traps the heat which comes from the sun and maintains a warm temperature on the planet. These a trapped in the form of gases like CO₂, water vapor, nitrogen, methane, etc.
As we have always seen this is like a villain for the planet but it is important for the greenhouse effect to happen as it balances the humid temperature of the planet. It's harmful when it goes over the limit.
In the case of Earth, the Sun emits shortwave radiation (sunlight) that passes through greenhouse gases to heat the Earth's surface. In response, the Earth's surface emits longwave radiation that is mostly absorbed by greenhouse gases. The absorption of longwave radiation prevents it from reaching space, reducing the rate at which the Earth can cool off. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth's average surface temperature would be as cold as −18 °C (−0.4 °F).
Simply, During the day, the Sun shines down and warms the planet. At night, Earth tries to release some of that heat back into space. But certain gases in the air—like carbon dioxide and methane—trap some of the heat, keeping our planet warm. These gases act like a blanket around Earth, stopping too much heat from escaping. This is called the greenhouse effect.
Without it, Earth would be freezing! ❄️ But too much of these gases can make the planet too hot, leading to problems like melting ice, rising sea levels, and extreme weather.
Wikipedia says, that around 40% of the greenhouse effect is necessary but according to the report of WMO,
WMO, the concentration of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide has been increased to 151%, 265%, and 125% of pre-industrial (before 1750) levels.
In 2024, more pollution and gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂) made the blanket thicker, trapping extra heat.
This caused Earth’s temperature to rise more than usual - The global average temperature was 1.60°C warmer than pre-industrial levels, making it the first year to exceed the 1.5°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement. Additionally, CO₂ emissions hit an all-time high of 37.8 gigatons, increasing by 0.8% compared to 2023.
These rising emissions intensified the greenhouse effect, leading to higher global temperatures, melting ice caps, and extreme weather patterns.
La Nina Effect
La Niña is a climate pattern that occurs when the Pacific Ocean’s surface waters become colder than usual. It’s the opposite of El Niño, which warms the ocean.
During La Niña, stronger trade winds push warm water toward Asia, allowing cold water to rise near South America. This shift affects global weather, causing heavy rains in some places and droughts in others.
In India, La Niña usually brings stronger monsoons, leading to above-normal rainfall and cooler winters. However, in other regions, like Africa, it can cause droughts, while in the Atlantic, it can intensify hurricanes.
Its effects can already be seen in 2025, unwelcome monsoon showers in the mid-summer have destroyed a lot of farming countries.
In India, erratic rainfall patterns—early onset followed by a stall—delayed sowing of key Kharif crops like rice, pulses, and oilseeds. This raised concerns about reduced yields, especially in eastern and northwestern states like Bihar and Punjab.
Water Cycles and Soil Erosions
We all know about this cause, trees play an important role in water cycles and soil erosions. They help with rainfall, and the roots hold the soil in place to prevent it from eroding.
In fact, many studies have proved that the presence of trees brings more rain.
|
Sr. No. |
Year |
Trees cleared that year (in hectares) |
All India Rainfall Depletion |
|
1 |
2019 |
14,300 |
+10% |
|
2 |
2020 |
17,800 |
-8% |
|
3 |
2021 |
18,200 |
+1% |
|
4 |
2022 |
16,800 |
-6% |
|
5 |
2023 |
17,500 |
-5% |
|
6 |
2024 |
18,700 |
-7% |
Note: This data is taken from a lot of sources on the internet, it might not be accurate but an avg data is mentioned.
An estimate says that there was over all, 10-30% of rainfall loss in INDIA since 2019.
We may see the world covered with 30% of those green trees but they keep on decreasing year by year.
We often don't realize how much our single act can impact the world. Trees are getting cut in a snap, but it takes years for a tree to grow young and protect us from the outcomes we are experiencing in today's days.
We don't even know how much it affects our health and now we need sunscreen to get out of the house.
We all depend on them for numerous things but human greed is killing itself. About 14% of trees have been cleared in just six years and this created a rainfall loss of 10-30%.
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