Deforestation Essay

Deforestation occurs primarily as a result of agriculture, fuel use and production, firewood, charcoal, timber harvesting, pasture-clearing for livestock animals, and expanding human settlements. When deforestation happens to a country that you live in it can have a huge impact, "These deforested areas almost always end up as wastelands via the processes of soil erosion and desertification, if they aren’t reforested. Many of the areas of the world that were deforested thousands of years ago remain as severely degraded wastelands or deserts today." Currently, the world’s annual rate of deforestation is estimated to be about 13.7 million hectares a year, which is roughly equal to the total land of Greece. Half of the areas deforested gets reforested to some degree, but these new-growth forests don’t function in the same ways, support the same biodiversity, nor do they provide the many benefits that old-growth forests do cause many societies to eventually collapse if they cannot come up with a better

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.

However, forests around the world are under threat from deforestation, jeopardizing these benefits. Deforestation comes in many forms, including fires, clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching and development, unsustainable logging for timber, and degradation due to climate change. This impacts people’s livelihoods and threatens a wide range of plant and animal species. Some 46-58 thousand square miles of forest are lost each year, which is equivalent to 36 football fields every minute.

Deforestation is the destruction of a wide area of forest land into a cleared land that is used for a variety of reasons. The impact on the environment from cutting down, burning and damaging forests is very detrimental and there are severe consequences for the environment and future generations because of deforestation. According to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization approximately 7.3 million hectares of forests are being destroyed per year in the world (Bradford, 2015). In this essay, I will explore the impact that deforestation on the environment and I will also look at the actions that are being taken to prevent deforestation. There are various reasons why deforestation is occurring despite its negative effects on the environment. Deforestation can cause very serious environmental problems such as climate change, flooding, loss of habitats as well as others.

Deforestation has lead to terrible living conditions and 38 species have been driven to extinction. John Vidal, author of “The Sumatran Rainforest Will Mostly Disappear Within 20 Years,” writes about the ways logging companies are getting past regulations to take more land and logs away from the forest and natives. Ian Sample, author of “Amazon’s Doomed Species Set to Pay Deforestation’s ‘Extinction Debt,’” on the other hand mostly talks about the affects deforestation has on animals. Vidal has the better argument over Sample because his explanations about its effects on humans and corruption from companies and the government.

People have been deforesting the Earth for thousands of years, primarily to clear land for crops or livestock. Although tropical forests are largely confined to developing countries they aren’t just meeting local or national needs.

From 1990 to 2005, deforestation, or the removal of trees, was happening at an average rate of 13 million hectares (32.11 million acres) per year (Hope 247). In many ways, deforestation has been the reason for great economic success which turns people on to the idea even more. Deforestation is an essential element in promoting and encouraging developmental growth. Some places around the world may feel obligated to resort to deforestation due to population increases around the world. The concept of deforestation may seem to have a positive impact on society, but many people fail to consider the importance of replanting the trees that were harvested and removed. Deforestation mainly affects North and South America, but because of the Transamazon

Advocates for the preservation of these forests state that deforestation has devastating consequences including social conflict, extinction of plants and animals, and dangerous climate changes, and that local deforestation in these forests are causing damages that aren’t just local, but global. While opponents claim that tropical forests are destined to diminish as it is necessary for the growing human population to clear the natural landscape to make room for farms and pastures, to harvest timber for construction and fuel, to build roads and urban areas and to develop the economies of the often poor countries that surround the equator.

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

“We are consuming our forests three times faster than they are being reproduced. Some of the richest timber lands of this continent have already been destroyed, and not replaced, and other vast areas are on verge of destruction.” – Theodore Roosevelt.

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 (clear-cutting) is viewed in many ways, though the perception is mainly based off the individual. Yet, there are two main sides. One side perceives deforestation as damaging because trees are a vital source of life. The other side perceives deforestation as beneficial because the land is used for different resources such as: paving roads, railroads, or agricultural purposes. Views on deforestation are different between people from ancient Greece and Rome, the Industrial era, and France. However, an increase in deforested lands will cause harm to the environments and ecosystems. Causes and effects of deforestation will be portrayed from separate areas to show how deforestation and its potential hazards need to be recognized and prevented as soon as possible.

Environmental issues affect every life on this planet from the smallest parasite to the human race. There are many resources that humans and animal needs to survive; some of the most obvious resources come from the forests. Forests make up a large percentage of the globe. The forests have global implications not just on life but on the quality of it. Trees improve the quality of the air that species breath, determine rainfall and replenish the atmosphere. The wood from the forests are used everyday form many useful resources. Moreover, thinning the forests increases the amount of available light, nutrients and water for the remaining trees. Deforestation (forest thinning) is one of the most

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.