Julian Sherman

How Forests Could Benefit Us?

Forests are essential for the survival of people on the planet and Earth will be a dry, ball of sand without trees. Life will be unsustainable and trees have strong relationship with breathable atmosphere. With trees, we should be able to enjoy the full benefits of soil. Forest is also essential for the CO2-O2 exchanges and the moderation of climate. Long-term sequestration of carbon could be achieved with lush forest and in forest, there is also a diverse habitat. In urban areas, trees become an important commodity and there are also herbs, fungi and other plants that thrive inside jungles.

Healthy forest is resilient to frequent disturbance and many millions of people could be affected by degradation for forest. Large trees use the chemistry and mechanics of root to break apart large stones and produce more soil. Trees are also great recyclers, they take nutrients from the humus layer and shed leaves that could form a thick, fertile soil. Forest offers the seasonal cycles of growth, death and rebirth. Trees could scavenge nutrients from very deep layers of soils and bring them to the surface. Wealth is redistributed around the forest and life continues to thrive.

Microfauna and fungi could also grow much better on fertile forests. Trees could exchange nutrients with one another and leaves could be broken down into much simpler nutrients. This will continue the regrowth of new trees, shrubs, mushrooms and a plethora of various fauna. The topsoil in forest is spongy and it could absorb rain and dew very easily. In this case, forest could store a large quantity of water and the ground water table can be replenished. In this case, the effects of flooding on lower grounds could be mitigated. In turn, ponds, streams and aquifers can be replenished.

In this case, the effects of drought can be diminished and for an extended period of time, the large-scale habitat can be controlled. Forest is essentially a fertile medium and it could support any kind of sprouting seeds, which may eventually become towering trees. Good forest could have significant economic impact for any country. However, many people could be attracted by short-term appeals, by cutting down trees to get the logs and use the open area for plantation. Flood could cause damages on roads, homes and other urban facilities. Floods could cause deaths and cost the society real dollar.

We should be able to eliminate financial risks by continuing the forestation of the landscape. It is believed that over-reliance on crops and lack of trees could contribute to the lack of rain. This will cause drought, which will plague the whole area. In many cases, new trees could be planted on damaged areas to rebuild topsoil, but it is a slow process. In fact, large trees could only rebuild one inch of topsoil per 100 years. It means the economic ROI for clearing forests and converting them into plantation could look bleak. In this case, people could turn to chemical-based solutions that pollute the environment.