London – A new study released by the University College London (UCL) showed that the earth has lost 100 million hectares of tropical forest, over the last 30 years, mostly to agricultural developments.
Dr Simon Lewis, the lead author of the study published in the journal, Science, said on Monday in London that the current trends looked set to intensify without major policy changes, as the global food demand was projected to double.
He said the study revealed that over 25 million kilometers of road were predicted to be built by 2050, and climate change intensifies, ushering in a new phase of human dominance of tropical forests.
“I fear a global simplification of the world’s most complex forests.
Lewis noted that deforestation, logging and road building all created fragmented patches of forest.
He, however, said that as the climate rapidly changes the plants and animals living in the rainforest would need to move to continue to live within their ecological tolerances.
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“What is needed are unbroken areas of forest that link today’s core tropical regions with forest areas about four degrees Celsius cooler.
“So, as temperatures rise and rainfall patterns change species have a better chance of surviving rapid 21st century climate change,’’ he said.
Lewis said the impacts of human actions are threatening to simplify the diverse ecosystem of world’s remaining tropical forests leading to mass species loss.
He said as at today, more than three quarters of the world’s remaining tropical forests had been degraded by human actions.
Lewis said the research identified three prior phases of expanding impacts, the first when hunter-gatherers moved into tropical forests and the second following the emergence of tropical agriculture, some 6,000 years ago and under both, the overall health of tropical forests was maintained.
“As at today, we live in the third phase, marked by much greater impacts, with distant decision-makers directing how land is used.
“The findings said this include permanent intensive agriculture, frontier industrial logging for timber export, cross-continental species invasions, and early climate change impacts,’’ he said. (Xinhua/NAN)