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The world wide problem of deforestation
the impact of deforestation
the impact of deforestation
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Deforestation Outlook
Tackling the numerous environmental health complications has been an essential focus for health prevention specialist alike. One in particular many don 't seem to fully grasp its importance, is Deforestation. Deforestation has slowly taken center stage as a global concern not only for humans, but, species inhabited within. In contrary of its effects to environment health, Deforestation has major repercussions across many fronts. One in particular that health specialists and promoters seem to undermine is its consequences economic consequences. Decimation of such forests, in turn reduce our global GDP, with an estimation that it will only get worse by 10% in 2030 (Hargrave, 2012). This loss in turn subsequently takes
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Countries that experience massive amounts of deforestation are ones that in particular are unstable economically. As stated before, countries like Brazil, Asian Oceanic spots like Indonesia, a handful of African countries, and a portion of European communities see the most activity. The ones in that seem most devastated by such is Brazil and countries in the Asia Oceanic. Why you ask? Well, apart from being close to the bottom in the economic spectrum, these countries are home to countless rainforests. With of cutting down of these trees brings into play a major cause in our world today; illegal clear cutting. What causes such an act? For starters, the main priority for these countries is expansion. To expand and provide for the people, making land available for infrastructure, and this in retrospect creates another cause, urbanization in the Amazon. Approximately, the population in Brazil has increased by 25%, a substantial increase when you compare to just 8% in the 90 's (Costa, M. H. 2009). As an economist we can sense what the future hold for a country like Brazil, with increase in population, we see an uprise in deforestation. As a result, the demand for land, homes, paper, oil and other commercial materials becomes in-demand for the society. Taking a step back and looking at the big picture quickly becomes an afterthought, leading to the destruction to many endangered species housed within. Over the course deforestation it has been practiced, with no policy or intention to punish its instigators. The WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) has estimated that some of our planet 's most precious species reside in such areas (Shukl, G. 2012). The loss of such biodiversity effects humans directly, with an estimated 70% of our food and plants come from these areas (Shukl, G. 2012). Maintaining such a Biodiversity is essential in maintain a healthy ecosystem, and finding potential cures
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 threat since carbon dioxide traps the sun’s heat and radiated light inside the earth’s atmosphere. So, with the increase in carbon dioxide more heat is trapped and thus adding to the effects of global warming. Among the many places where deforestation takes place, Amazon seems to be one of the most affected ones. More than 20 percent of it is already gone, and much more of it is severely threatened due to deforestation . It is estimated that the Amazon alone is vanishing at a rate of 20,000 square miles a year .
Deforestation is defined as the clearing of trees, and the absence of a forest. What most people seem to turn a blind eye to the fact that we need these trees and plants not just for our paper, pencils, or even furniture, but something much greater than any of these things put together. Indeed having a low costly grocery store within walking distance is pleasant, but there are negative consequences as well as positive consequences that coincide with the placement of a Wal-Mart in the city of Oviedo. It is understood to many that industrialization as well as being able to finally have a store that does not charge six dollars for orange juice is a blessing. Fretfully, the negative consequences will
Now is a critical time to address the issue of deforestation. Around the world forests are logged for timber and paper pulp. South America contains a large amount of mahogany and rosewood—highly coveted types of wood—within the Amazon basin. Forests are also cleared to make room for the planting of cash crops, such as coffee and soy, as well as livestock farms. After only a few years, overuse of these lands for crops typically causes soil erosion that quickly turns deforested regions into wastelands. Deforestation is responsible for 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than all emissions all motorized transportation added together. The destruction of forests does not just threaten our climate; it threatens the livelihoods of billions of people that rely on forests for food and economic activities. The modern world relies on rainforests more than for the well-known reason. People receive many of their fruits and medicines from plant species that survive solely within the heart of a rainforest. Let’s not forget that forests also serve as habitats to wildlife a...
Deforestation has accumulated many multifaceted controversies over time. The main one, however, is the impact deforestation has on water flow. People have different perceptions on how deforestation affects the flow of water, this lead to a controversy between conservationists and a group of theorists. Many years ago, water was used as a way for almost all the mills to function. Changes in the ecosystem depend on the rate and extent of deforestation and determines how drastic the changes will be.
The issue again is deciding what exactly is important enough to conserve. We cut down entire forests, and continue to do so today, but we all wish to plant a tree in our yard. It is interesting that we would wish to alter nature so drastically just to try to hold on to it in the most basic ways we know possible. Again it goes to the idea of nostalgia, we focus on aspects of nature we no longer have simply because we miss it. In places like Brazil the amount of forests are still abundant because their need is not just based in appeal. Yet, as Brazil urbanizes, it is going to be difficult for the trees to bounce back. One researcher focused on this problem and states, “Recent studies suggest that deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon could increase sharply in the future as a result of over US$ 40 billion in planned investments in highway paving and major new infrastructure projects in the region”. (Lawrence, 2001) A project that big could pave roads all over the country, which would mean lot of forests would be cut down to make way. It seems that humans are not so much the issue as the society in which they live in. Like America before the English, third world countries tend to be abundant in resources, or at the very least one main export. The problem with this is it creates a capitalist system that does not work in unison the environment. This is also a time to say it is important to know about society at the time of these movements, because they tend to coincide with the societal climate of the time. Despite all of this, one major thing we always seem to forget is that nature, despite our constant effort, has survived. It has been heavily altered and changed but it is still there and still important, so important that we surround ourselves with it
Countries such as Brazil and Indonesia have been greatly affected by deforestation with well over two million hectares of naturally forested land now rendered barren (See appendix 1).
“The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Scaling to 46 years, human have been here 4 hours, the industrial revolution began 1 minute ago, and in that time, we’ve destroyed more than half the world’s forests.” - Unknown. One major environmental problem in our world is deforestation - what is that, you ask? According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, deforestation is the action or process of clearing of forests. Some consequences of this include a large contribution to global warming and climate change (about 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year), loss of biodiversity especially in tropical rainforests, and the extinction of many known or yet to be discovered species. But, through some Debt-for-Nature Swaps, leaving forests
Deforestation is a widely used term, but one with different meanings. Disturbance deforestation refers to all man made disturbances that alter a forest, these are the most common. This argumentative essay discusses the positive and negative aspects of deforestation. In the first part of the essay the pro arguments of deforestation will be discussed. For example, the issue of Global population and how forests are being used, land use and the ways forests contribute, wood use, forest growth, destruction and the reasons for cutting down the trees. The second half of the essay will cover the issues that are harmful to the environment because of deforestation. Many environmental issues take place everyday; a big question that arises, is if the global economy will ever finds middle on the issue of forest thinning. If deforestation was used only in the most crucial of times, the world might become a better place.
This is alarming since recent data indicates these enormous forests are land-dwelling carbon absorbers that could help to slow worldwide climate alteration. The United Nations ' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates “eighteen million acres of forests have been destroyed worldwide;” and NASA forecasts “that if current deforestation rates are not reduced, rainforests could become entirely eradicated in a century.” The nations with substantial deforestation are Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, Africa (The Democratic Republic of Congo included), and remote areas of Eastern Europe. Indonesia, the country with the greatest deforestation within the last century, has lost approximately forty million acres of indigenous
Deforestation, defined by biologist Charles Southwick as "the destruction of forests; may involve clear-cutting or selective logging" (p. 365), is a predominantly human-driven process that is dramatically altering ecosystems worldwide. "Clear-cutting" involves the indiscriminant removal of every single plant and tree species from within a selected area. The other major process of deforestation, "selective logging," focuses removal efforts on only specific, predetermined tree species within a chosen area. The statistics gathered about human deforestation over time are considerable, and they can be somewhat controversial. Depending on the source and the location selected, the magnitude of deforestation varies. Southwick estimates that, approximately 10,000 years ago, 6.2 billion hectares (23.9 million square miles) of forest existed on earth (p. 117). That figure is equivalent to 45.5% of the earth's total land. He further estimates that, by 1990, this amount had declined 30%, with only 4.3 billion hectares of forest remaining (p. 117). Southwick also acknowledges other estimates that place the total amount of deforestation between 50% and 75% (p. 117). NASA has similar deforestation statistics that confirm these trends. According to their website, 16.5% of the Brazilian Amazon forests have been destroyed. They also note similar magnitudes of deforestation in Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam), despite the significantly smaller total area of forest within these countries. These grim figures are somewhat tempered by the NASA finding that, over the past ten years, the deforestation rate has declined from 6,200 square miles per year to 4,800 square miles per year. Though this trend is n...
Reason to Listen: You as the audience should listen and understand why our planet is becoming hotter and hotter, losing specialized species, and in-turn why plants are no longer able to survive for as long as they were able to before.
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; economic globalization means that the needs and wants of the global population are bearing down on them as well. Direct causes of deforestation are agricultural expansion, wood extraction (e.g., logging or wood harvest for domestic fuel or charcoal), and infrastructure expansion such as road building and urbanization. Rarely is there a single direct cause for deforestation. Most often, multiple processes work simultaneously or sequentially to cause deforestation.
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.
Scientists themselves are just beginning to understand the serious problems caused by deforestation. Deforestation occurs all over the world by all types of people. Peasant farmers even add to the problem because in most tropical countries the farmers are very poor only making between eight hundred and fifty four hundred dollars annually (NASA Facts). Therefore, they do not have enough money to buy what they need to live therefore they must farm to raise crops for food and to sell. In these poor countries the majority of people are peasant farmers this farming adds up to a great deal of deforestation. These farmers chop down a small area of trees for there plot to farm on and burn the tree trunks (NASA Facts). The combined number of farmers maintaining this process creates a great deal of clearing and burning of the land they need to cultivate, which results in land being treeless. Commercial logging is also another common form of deforestation. This commercial logging wipes out massive amounts of land sometimes deforesting several miles at...
Deforestation is the amputation of trees from forest areas more swiftly than they can be replanted or regenerate naturally. The fact that trees play an incredibly momentous part in stabilising climate, atmospheric composition and soil structure, removing trees rapidly becomes a major problem. There are numerous reasons behind the felling of trees by mankind. The Amazon basin is a prime example of humans exploiting rainforests. Within this tropical rainforest lie a vast variety of tree species, with many uses, giving humans even more reason to exploit this area.