Deforestation Final

8/6/2019 Deforestation Final

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Deforestation

Deforestation is the clearance of forests bylogging or burning (popularly

known as slash and burn). Deforestation is the permanent destruction of indigenous forests andwoodlands. The term does not include the removal of industrial forests such as plantations of

gums or pines. Deforestation has resulted in the reduction of indigenous forests to four-fifths of

their pre-agricultural area. Indigenous forests now cover 21% of the earth's land surface.

Deforestation occurs for many reasons: trees or derived charcoalare used as, or sold, for fuel oras lumber, while cleared land is used aspasture for livestock, plantations of commodities, and

settlements. The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage

tohabitat,biodiversity loss andaridity. It has adverse impacts onbiosequestration ofatmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil

erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland.

Trees are one of the most important aspects of the planet we live in.

Trees are vitally important to the environment, animals, and of course for us humans. They areimportant for the climate of the Earth, they act as filters of carbon dioxide, they are habitats and

shelters to millions of species, and they are also important for their aesthetic appeal. However,
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the trees on our planet are being depleted at a very fast rate. According to some estimates, more

than 50 percent of the tree cover has disappeared due to human activity. Although humans have

been practicing deforestation since ages, it was in the mid-1800s that forests began to bedestroyed at an unprecedented rate. As a matter of fact, throughout the earlier part of the

medieval age, Europeans used to live amongst vast areas of forested land. But later, they began

deforestation at such a high rate that they started to run out of wood for cooking and heating.Also, due to the depletion of their natural habitat, wild game too began disappearing, which the

Europeans largely depended upon for their nutritional requirements. Today, parallels can clearly

be observed in the deforestation that is occurring in most developing countries.

One of the most worrying factors today is the massive destruction of

the rainforests of the world, which is affecting the biodiversity adversely, as well as being one of

the major contributory factors of the Holocene mass extinction that is ongoing.

Causes of deforestation

The destruction of the forests is occurring due to various reasons, one of

the main reasons being the short term economic benefits. Given below are some more common

causes of deforestation:

Used for Urban and Construction Purposes: The cutting down of trees for lumber that is used

for building materials, furniture, and paper products. Forests are also cleared in order to

accommodate expanding urban areas.

To Grow Crops: Forests are also cut down in order to clear land for growing crops.

To Create Grazing Land: Forests are cut down in order create land for grazing cattle.

Used for Fuel: Trees are cut down in developing countries to be used as firewood or turned into

charcoal, which are used for cooking and heating purposes.

Some of the other causes of deforestation are: clearing forests for oil and mining exploitation; to

make highways and roads; slash and burn farming techniques; wildfires; and acid rain.

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change (UNFCCC) secretariat, the overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is agriculture.


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Subsistence farming is responsible for 48% of deforestation; commercial agriculture is

responsible for 32% of deforestation; logging is responsible for 14% of deforestation and fuel

wood removals make up 5% of deforestation. [13]

The degradation of forest ecosystems has also been traced to economic

incentives that make forest conversion appear more profitable than forest conservation. [14] Many

important forest functions have no markets, and hence, no economic value that is readily

apparent to the forests' owners or the communities that rely on forests for their well-being.[14] From the perspective of the developing world, the benefits of forest as carbon sinks or

biodiversity reserves go primarily to richer developed nations and there is insufficientcompensation for these services. Developing countries feel that some countries in the developed

world, such as the United States of America, cut down their forests centuries ago and benefited

greatly from this deforestation, and that it is hypocritical to deny developing countries the same

opportunities: that the poor shouldn't have to bear the cost of preservation when the rich created

the problem.[15]
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Effects of Deforestation

Effects of deforestation can be classified and grouped into

effects to biodiversity, environment and social settings. Because deforestation basically involves

killing trees in forests, there are so many effects that can be enumerated as results of the activity.

When forests are killed, nature basically requires people to renew the

forest. Reforestation is one concept that is in the opposite direction as deforestation, but is

proven to be a much harder effort than deforestation.

So the rate of deforestation has not been offset by the rate of

reforestation. Thus, the world is now in a troubled state when it comes to issues concerning the

environment.

Pollution is rapidly growing along with population. Forests are greatly

helping reduce the amount of pollutants in the air. So, the depletion of these groups of trees isgreatly increasing the risk that carbon monoxide would reach the atmosphere and result in the

depletion of the ozone layer, which in turn results to global warming.

Environment change

One major effect of deforestation is climate change. Changes to the surroundings done by

deforestation work in many ways. One, there is abrupt change in temperatures in the nearby

areas. Forests naturally cool down because they help retain moisture in the air.

Second is the long process of global climate change. As mentioned above, deforestation has been

found to contribute to global warming or that process when climates around the world becomewarmer as more harmful rays of the sun comes in through the atmosphere.

The ozone layer is a mass of oxygen or O3 atoms that serves as shield in the atmosphere against

the harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. Because ozone is made up of oxygen atoms, oxygenreacts with carbon monoxide. Such reaction would use up oxygen atoms.

It follows that when there are more carbon monoxide atoms going to the atmosphere, the volume

of oxygen would decline. Such is the case of ozone depletion.

The third effect to the environment would be on the water table underneath the ground. Water

table is the common source of natural drinking water by people living around forests.

Water table is replenishing. That means, the supply of water underground could also dry up if not

replenished regularly. When there is rain, forests hold much of the rainfall to the soil through

their roots.


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Thus, water sinks in deeper to the ground, and eventually replenishing the supply of water in the

water table. Now, imagine what happens when there is not enough forests anymore. Water from

rain would simply flow through the soil surface and not be retained by the soil.

Or other than that, the water from rain would not stay in the soil longer, for the process of

evaporation would immediately set in. Thus, the water table is not replenished, leading to dryingup of wells.

Effect to biodiversity

Forests are natural habitats to many types of animals and organisms. That is why, when there isdeforestation, many animals are left without shelters. Those that manage to go through the flat

lands and residential sites are then killed by people.

Through the years, it is estimated that there are millions of plant and extinct animal species that

have been wiped out because they have been deprived of home. Thus, biodiversity is

significantly lowered because of the savage deforestation practices of some people.

Wildlife advocates have been constantly reminding that several wild animals left in the world

could still be saved if deforested forests would only be reforested and the practice of slash and

burn of forests would be totally abandoned.

Social effects of deforestation

Deforestation is hardly hitting the living conditions of indigenous people who consider forests as

their primary habitats. Imagine how they are rendered homeless when forests are depleted. These

natives would be forced to live elsewhere, and are usually left to becoming mendicants in rural

and urban areas.

Overall, effects of deforestation cannot be offset by the contribution of the practice to

development. While it is logical that progress is very much needed by mankind, it must also be

noted that nature knows no defeat. Destruct it and it would certainly retaliate, one way oranother.

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Deforestation Final