Disease and Climate Change Resulting from Deforestation

​Forest covers 30 percent of the Earth’s landmass. However, growing industrial and agricultural deforestation is creating problems for the earth and its inhabitants. Two adverse impacts of deforestation are climate change and the proliferation of infectious diseases.

Forests, specifically trees, play a vital role in the global ecosystem. They prevent soil erosion and hold moisture in the soil through the shade the trees provide. They play a central role in the water cycle by returning water to the atmosphere. They also absorb and store compounds that contribute to greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide.

Clearing forests to make way for farmland is the primary source of deforestation, but cutting down trees for timber and wood is another major contributor. Other contributors include removing forests to make way for houses and communities, mining, and making paper and palm oil.

Cutting and burning down forests results in releasing over 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year. If deforestation continues at its current rate, all the planet’s rainforests will be gone in 100 years.

Regardless of the reason for removing forests, it impacts the environment adversely by driving global warming and climate change. The vegetation in the forest acts as a carbon sink, absorbing carbon dioxide in the air, storing the carbon and releasing the oxygen. An October 2021 MIT Climate Portal article illustrates the importance of forests as carbon sinks. According to the source, forests are responsible for removing approximately 2 billion metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually and, in doing so, reducing the rate at which carbon dioxide builds in the air.

However, continued deforestation reduces the impact of this natural carbon sink on removing greenhouse gases at the rate needed to address climate change. This change in global temperatures happens because greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, contribute to a rise in temperature of the atmosphere and bodies of water.

Palm oil harvesting in Indonesia illustrates the impact of deforestation on climate change. Indonesia produces 58 percent of the world’s palm oil. The production of this oil is one of the leading causes of deforestation in the country, comprised of tropical wetlands or peatlands that capture significant amounts of carbon. However, when farmers convert these forests to palm oil farmlands requiring dry soil, the moist peat dries out. According to the director of the International Council on Transportation, Stephanie Searle, the palm oil plantations expand into tropical forests and peatlands, significantly impacting the global climate.

While climate change is the most widely known impact, deforestation also can lead to the proliferation of infectious diseases. Researchers have discovered the public health impacts of removing forests in Indonesia. Led by assistant professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego, Teevrat Garg, one study connected the loss of primary or old-growth forests to the spread of malaria. Old-growth forests are very mature forests that have not experienced disturbances.

Dr. Teevrat found that a 1 percent loss in forest covering translates to a 10 percent increase in malaria incidence in Indonesian communities. Furthermore, this connection is more robust for villages closer to the forests than those some distance away. Dr. Garg stated the findings support epidemiological and disease ecological research that deforestation does contribute to biodiversity issues that allow the mosquito population to grow.

The Ebola virus epidemic that broke out in Central and West Africa is another example of how deforestation can lead to the proliferation of a virus. Building on previous research that made this connection, a 2017 study used remote sensing techniques to connect the Ebola virus outbreak and forest losses. The study focused on 27 Ebola outbreak sites and 280 comparable control sites, finding that outbreaks along a rainforest biome (large area with distinct soil, climate, and vegetation) were much higher in places that experienced forest loss within the previous two years. This finding led researchers to state that reducing forest loss (deforestation) can be one method for reducing the incidence of future outbreaks.

Ralph Cioffi

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