Investigation of the Issue of Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of large numbers of trees, along with the loss of the animals that habitat the area.
Deforestation occurs in many ways. Most of the clearing is done for agricultural purposes-grazing cattle, planting crops. Poor farmers chop down a small area (typically a few acres) and burn the tree trunks-a process called Slash and Burn agriculture. Intensive, or modern, agriculture occurs on a much larger scale, sometimes deforesting several square miles at a time. Large cattle pastures often replace rain forest to grow beef for the world market.
Commercial logging is another common form of deforestation, cutting trees for sale
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standards, and farming is a basic way of life for a large part of the population. In Brazil, for example, the average annual earnings per person are U.S. $5400, compared to $26,980 per person in the United States (World Bank, 1998). In Bolivia, which holds part of the Amazon rain forest, the average earnings per person is $800(3). Farmers in these countries do not have the money to buy necessities and must raise crops for food and to sell. People in these parts of the world have large families and do not have enough land to grow food to feed their families(2). However when they do cut down trees, the soil is very thin and will not last two seasons worth of crop growing, therefore more trees have to be cut down.
There are other reasons for deforestation, such as to construct towns or dams, which flood large areas and using wood for fuel.
As a consequence of deforestation, there are many effects on the environment and the animals. The immediate and long-term consequences of global deforestation are almost certain to jeopardize life on Earth, as we know it. Some of these consequences include: loss of biodiversity; the destruction of forest-based-societies; and climatic disruption.
Deforestation is causing a loss of biological diversity on an unprecedented scale. Although tropical forests cover only six percent of Earth’s land surface, they
Human activity can negatively impact on the environment in different ways, which can lead to consequences which are not only bad for the environmental area affected, but humans too. Activities such as causing radiation leaks with nuclear meltdowns and dumping waste are just some examples of how humans can worsen their own environment.
The affect of environmental issues occur everyday and in particular deforestation is becoming a highly ranked subject. From animals to the human race, the alacrity of trees that are cut down affects every individual in a variety of ways. Not only do people need to help the planet but they need to help themselves and further generations to come, such as children and grandchildren because these natural resources that are being taken away from society are as well shaping the future. For comprehensible reasons, forests use to make up the world, until man made creatures started to destroy and destruct the most important supply to human kind which are trees. Trees are crucial to every living entity for the reason of providing oxygen to all.
Deforestation is the process of cutting or burning too many trees. In deforestation, forests are completely cleared, and that land is used for other purposes. Major example of deforestation is in the Amazon rainforest in South America. Within last twenty-six years, it went form a thick layer of green forest, to empty clean area. Cutting these breathe in CO2 and breathe out oxygen. Trees are a natural way to controlling CO2 in the atmosphere. Once the forest is clean in deforestation, these no natural way left for balancing CO2 in the environment that leads to too much CO2 in the air. Also, trees are made 50 percent with CO2 in them which they use for energy. When deforestation takes place, the CO2 from tree is released in the air. As said before too much CO2 increases temperature of the planet leading to global
Environmental effects of deforestation are pressing. Due to the significant amount of tree lost, animals have lost shelter, regulates temperatures, increased greenhouse gases, less water in the air to be returned to the soil, and soil erosion. There are different methods of deforestation which include clean-cut, selective logging, perennial shade, and the most used, slash-and-burn. Slash-and-burn is mostly used by small farmers and ranch owners in the tropics including the famous Amazon rainforest. The process of slash-and-burn was to cut down the tress in a particular plot of
The causes of deforestation vary in number a few have made a big impact on the problem. The USA's population has increased by over a hundred million people since 1970, more than half of the whole population at the time. As seen many factors come along with a growth in population things such as, a need for more space, and a need for more wood for conventional uses, all contribute to the huge increase of deforestation. With nearly one-quarter of America’s tree canopy existing in our backyards, city streets and parks, our population has a huge responsibility,according to, “United states, plant a billion trees”. The next big contributor to the problem of deforestation in the U.S. is land for livestock. In the U.S. one of the biggest causes of deforestation is land for livestock. The single biggest direct cause of tropical deforestation, is conservation to cropland and pastures, mostly for subsistence, which is growing crops or raising livestock to
Deforestation occurs for many reasons, agriculture due to the increasing need for food products, large amounts of trees are removed to grow crops and for animals (Deforestation and Its Effect, 2017). Logging because wood-based industries such as paper and furniture need a large supply of wood to produce the amount used by the population, the wood is also used as a fuel source (Deforestation and Its Extreme Effect, n.d.). Urbanization, the forests are destroyed to put in roads and buildings due to the growing population (Environmental Impact of Deforestation, n.d.). Forest fires are another way of
Today, the total percentage of forest cover of the earth is approximately thirty percent (“Deforestation”). That is about nine percent of the world’s total surface. The largest rainforest is the Amazon River Basin, located in South America. The Amazon is home to many species of animals, insects, plants and trees. Many of the trees and plants in the Amazon produce about twenty percent of the oxygen on earth, and absorb carbon. However, the Amazon is decreasing in size every day due to the ongoing deforestation of the land. Deforestation is when the forest of the land are cleared or destroyed, in order to be used for other actions (“Deforestation”). The Amazon is twenty percent less than it was about forty years ago (Wallace). In just about
Deforestation is defined as: “the clearing of virgin forests, or intentional destruction or removal of trees and other vegetation for agricultural, commercial, housing, or firewood use without replanting and without allowing time for the forest to regenerate itself” (SCRIBD). Deforestation has been a problem in Latin America since the early 1900s and the severity of the dilemma is increasing rapidly. Deforestation not only has consequences for the environment, but also, the indigenous people and the national economy. The logging industry in Latin America is often exploited by multinational companies that are not properly regulated. The land that has provided a home and cultivated indigenous development for centuries is being dissipated rapidly. Due to an exponentially growing global population, there is an increased demand for low priced goods--like timber, crops, and meat. Many Latin American countries value revenue from selling these goods over the health of their local ecosystems. The crisis of deforestation and habitat loss is shifting from a local to global problem. As deforestation continues, global warming escalates worldwide, impacting every country and person. About 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from tropical deforestation, which is more than from all the world’s cars, trucks and buses combined (Schwartzman). Puerto Rico and Brazil provide contrasting examples of the impact of deforestation. Puerto Rico had an economic and environmental shift
Deforestation is the clearing of a forest and/or cutting down of trees for human benefits such as agriculture, wood exports, etc. Deforestation is the cause of numerous environmental impacts such as habitat loss, flooding and soil erosion. It can also cause climate change, by reducing the amount of rainfall and changing the amount of sunlight reflected from Earth’s surface and increases the risk of forest . Tree growth is important for biodiversity because they absorb carbon dioxide which is a harmful greenhouse gas . However, since deforestation reduces natural carbon sinks, it disrupts the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air causing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air to increase. This poses a serious
What is happening to the Earth? Our home is becoming a barren mass of sorrow. Most people in America are blind to what is going on. Could it be that every individual is just turning a cheek the other way. America is faced with an extremely serious problem, and if it is not acted upon there will be nothing left on Earth. Hopefully it will still be able to thrive after the numerous accounts of human destruction. Deforestation in America is a huge problem with devastating affects to humans. The root causes of this travesty are mainly the ongoing need to increase America's economic growth, and the idea of frontierism. These two aspects of deforestation tie together well. Together they help define the thought process that Americans have
Ninety percent of the earth’s trees between three and four hundred years old have been cut down. The remaining ten percent is all we will ever have (Gallant, 97). The definition of deforestation by the Random House Dictionary of the English Language is "to divest or clear of forests or trees.” Deforestation is one of the most significant issues of our time; considerable measures must be taken to prevent further pillaging of our unique forest resource.
Deforestation is the cutting down of a large area of trees and the destruction of forests by people. Forests are what we call an exhaustible resource, one which can be used up if it is not used carefully. Over the last few decades, deforestation has threatened the rainforests with total extinction. To understand why deforestation is such an important issue, you first have to understand why trees matter. Trees improve in many ways the life of all species, including the human race.
There are many causes/factors to deforestation, which are largely associated with direct human influence. The first proximate cause to deforestation is infrastructure expansion (Geist & Lambin, 2002, p. 144). This refers to transportation (roads), private and public markets, rural and urban settlements, and private and public services (water lines, oil exploitation, etc…) (Geist & Lambin, 2002, p. 144). The next cause is agricultural expansion, which includes, large or small-scale cultivations, shifting cultivations (slash and burn), and, of course, cattle ranching. Wood extractions for industrial and domestic purposes are other proximate causes to this issue.
The rate of deforestation is increasing and the tropical forests are falling at approximately 140,000 acres per day (Miller & Tangley 1991: xvi). The forests are crucial to the environment. They are important in minimizing erosion, providing a stable habitat for many animals, and helping to keep the environment clean. Deforestation has devastating effects, not only on the biological dependents within the depleted forests, but also on the surrounding human-populated communities.
Humans have always cleared the forest for our own interests, but in the past, the process was slow and only limited regions were deforested, generally for subsistence agriculture. However, today, humanity is far more efficient at clearing the forest with our advanced technology and machinery and our almost maniacal drive to earn profits in the near term. Ranching Cattle ranches are created in the rainforest for many fast food companies.