Deforestation is the removal of forests to create land for industrial,

commercial and residential purposes. One problem caused by deforestation is its

contribution to climate change. As trees store carbon, when they are felled, this
carbon will be converted into carbon dioxide, a type of greenhouse gases, when
released into the atmosphere. As greenhouse gases trap heat that would otherwise
be lost to space, it thus results in the warming of the planet as some of this energy
bounce back to Earth. This leads to an increase in global temperature and hence
creates climate imbalance.
A plausible solution would be reforestation, where trees are replanted back
into the community. This is because more trees would signify increases in carbon
dioxide absorption as required in the process of photosynthesis and also the
increase in the number of stores containing carbon, thus hugely reducing the
carbon dioxide lying around in the atmosphere. However, in order to fix the problem
of climate imbalance, the number of trees replanted must be more than or equal to
the number of trees felled. With only the efforts of the community, it will be
impossible to reach the goal. However, with the involvement and cooperation of
large corporations, especially those belonging to the deforestation story, it could
potentially end on a positive note. Reforestation must be done on a large scale, but
even so, that itself would not be enough. Only when deforestation efforts are
concurrently minimized, along with reforestation efforts, will we reap the desired
results.
Additionally, another solution would be to develop a draconian set of rules
and regulations to curb deforestation acts. It is imperative to ensure that only
responsible officials who are passionate about conserving the environment are hired
to enforce these rules. This requisite has to be satisfied in order for the solution to
work due to the plethora of corruption cases where officials in charge receive
bribery from companies, usually in the form of monetary benefits, in exchange for
the clearing of forests for more land space. The haze problem in Singapore that is
caused by the slash-and-burn practice carried out in neighbouring country Indonesia
can set the example. Despite the Singapore governments efforts to rein in the
companies involved in carrying out the practice, where Singapore detained an
executive of one of the companies during his visit to Singapore for questioning,
drawing shark rebuke from Indonesia, which demanded for the release of the
executive and even threatened to reconsider Indonesias bilateral relations with
Singapore. Other officials joined in, making unintelligent and ludicrous remarks on
how Singapore ought to be grateful to Indonesia for the other months of fresh air we
get to breathe, some even denying the fact that Indonesia was at fault, attributing
the cause to wind direction, which is something that cannot be controlled. On the
other hand, Indonesias president Joko Widodo had just pledged to tackle the haze
problem. However, it is hard to convince neighbouring countries that Indonesia was
serious on wanting to solve the problem, judging from the contrasting views that
different officials held. Therefore, it is also vital that everyone be on the same page

and agree to the same set of rules, for them to come across as resolute in carrying
out their pledge. Another highly influential point is that the laws developed should
be stringent, such as very expensive fines, in order to penalise the large and often,
wealthy companies. This is because in the absence of strict rules, industries may
choose to pay fines instead of changing their deforestation ways, and might even
increase these acts as long as the fines do not eat into their profits. Therefore, only
when stringent rules are enforced properly, will the solution be effective.
Moreover, we can look towards education as a solution. Besides targeting
large corporations, another potential target would be farmers. Due to the global
demand for palm oil, it becomes lucrative for farmers to invest in palm oil
plantation. In order to step foot into this lucrative industry, farmers will clear the
land to cultivate such plantations. However, as aforementioned, clearing of forests
will result in global warming, which is the increase in global temperature. In the long
run, as temperatures continue to rise rapidly, the current piece of land suitable for
growing this type of crop might be incompatible for that particular crop due to the
sensitiveness of crops to the weather conditions. Therefore, it is definitely wiser to
preserve the environment now in order to benefit longer in the near future. The
unawareness could be due to the lack of education of the farmers, thus resulting in
them making uninformed choices. Therefore, education is also an imperative
aspect.
In conclusion, we can look towards education, draconian laws and
reforestation as plausible solutions to deforestation. Hopefully, by adhering strictly
to these solutions, the prospects of a green environment will come true.