Building highway through rainforests contributes to climate change

Rainforests absorb huge quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which means that the clearance and destruction of these forests have extremely negative environmental impact. Climate change is growing in strength meaning we need our allies to fight with us, and rainforests are no doubt one of our most important allies in global fight against climate change.

The latest study from the Florida University has studied the environmental impact of building highways through rainforests and the effect of this on climate change. The study has concluded following:

1. Highway paving facilitates migration and population growth in communities. More people is often associated  with massive forest clearing and conflicts over natural resources.

2. Highway paving has left the Amazon rainforest more vulnerable to clearing with fire, which results in increase in carbon emissions and adds more impact to climate change.

Paving highways through rainforests can indeed lead to significant economic benefits but these economic benefits are very often accompanied with massive environmental damage so it is of vital importance to consider what is gained and what is lost by paving highways.

The massive environmental damage doesn't only refer to more greenhouse gas emissions but also in huge biodiversity loss because rainforests belong to areas with the richest biodiversity in the world. Paving highways through rainforests could therefore also lead to decline and extinction of many species.