Amazon Rainforest

Wood is, and never was anything rare. Its varying strengths and weaknesses give timber the title of the ultimate building material. No one would ever believe that trees could ever be in danger. Yet anywhere from 46-58 thousand square miles of forests are lost each year, that’s equivalent to around 48 foot-ball fields every minute. The Amazon Rainforest alone has lost over 15% of its trees in the last 50 years, and considering the size of the forest, is a lot more than it seems.1 Trees have proven to serve much more than a nice kitchen cabinet. Thousands, if not millions of animals call forests their home or food. They even give oxygen, and take in carbon dioxide to keep this planet safe. “Forests are the world’s air-conditioning system--the

Though there are some forests that were cleared completely by nature, but now it is practically impossible to find no connection to humans.5 Most of the time, when clearing a forest for plantations or cattle ranches, people will purposefully start a forest fire for a quick and easy solution. This not only ruins the soil, but attracts invasive species, decreases biodiversity, among many others. If not for humans, the earth would most likely be covered in rich forests, full of diverse vegetation and animals.3 It is obvious how urban cities affect deforestation, demanding for more products that shouldn’t be supplied, but no forests also affects urban

Of course there will always be trees, at least for much longer than the life of forests, but the previous forest’s ground will lose its worth. At least 20% of the Earth’s greenhouse gas emissions are directly related to deforestation. Without vegetation to take in carbon dioxide, over 1.5 billion tons of it gets released into the air every year. Even the water cycle is affected. The lower the plants, the dryer the land, which leads to less rain overall, creating more desertification. The northwestern regions of China reported to have their rainfall average deplete by ⅓ from 1950 to 1980.5 “Humanity is cutting down its forests, apparently oblivious to the fact that we may not be able to live without them.” - Isaac Asimov. Even with the amount of deforestation, there are still ways for ay person to help slow the effects that could potentially harm the Earth