Wearelosingtheseforestsjustatthemomentwhenweare
starting to learn howtruly vital theyare. Sincethe North
Americandrought of1988,manypeoplehaveheardofthe
threatposedto ourplanetbythegreenhouseeffect,caused
mainly by increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere.Forestsstoreimmenseamountsofcarbon;ithas
been estimated that despiteall the clearing that has taken
place,theworld’sremainingforestsstillholdfourhundred
timestheamountofcarbonreleasedintotheatmosphereeach
yearbyhumanuseoffossilfuels.Destroyingaforestreleases
thecarbonintotheatmosphereintheformofcarbondioxide.
Conversely, a new, growingforest absorbscarbon dioxide
from theatmosphere andlocks itup asliving matter.The
destructionof existingforestswillintensifythegreenhouse
effect; in large-scale reforestation, combined with other
measurestoreducetheoutputofcarbondioxide,liesouronly
hopeofmitigatingit.^19 Ifwefailtodoso,thewarmingofour
planet will mean, within the next fifty years, widespread
droughts,furtherdestructionofforestsfromclimaticchange,
theextinctionofinnumerablespeciesunabletocopewiththe
changesintheirhabitat,andameltingofthepolaricecaps,
whichwillinturnraisesealevelsandfloodcoastalcitiesand
plains.Ariseofonemeterintheleveloftheseawouldflood
15 percentofBangladesh,affecting 10 millionpeople;andit
wouldthreatentheveryexistenceofsomelow-lyingPacific
island nations such as the Maldives, Tuvalu, and Kiribati.^20
Forestsand meat animals competefor thesame land.The
prodigiousappetiteoftheaffluentnationsformeatmeansthat
agribusinesscanpaymorethanthosewhowanttopreserveor
restoretheforests.Weare,quiteliterally,gamblingwiththe
future of our planet—for the sake of hamburgers.