The Problem of Deforestation
The world’s forests are in grave danger. Over half of the original
forest cover has been destroyed, and things are set to deteriorate
unless the current alarming rate of deforestation is checked. Every
minute an estimated 26 hectares of forest is lost – that’s an area
equivalent to 37 football pitches - and it is not difficult to see
that if this continues we will be left with a planet devoid of
woodland. This would be catastrophic: not only are forests home to
some of the most important species on earth, but they also play a
vital role in regulating the climate and making the planet habitable.
Much of the earth was once covered by trees, but the majority of these
were cleared long ago to make way for an ever expanding human
population. This is particularly true in regions with a temperate
climate such as Britain and other parts of Europe where agriculture
took an early hold of the landscape, and has now reduced the great
forests to tiny pockets strewn throughout the land. However, it is
only in relatively recent times that the tropical forests have come
under severe attack. On a global scale there was twice as much
tropical forest at the turn of the 20th century as there is today, and
only around 700 million of the original 1.5 billion hectares remain.
The rate of deforestation in Africa is a cause for extreme concern:
around four million hectares of forest are destroyed each year, to the
extent that 45 per cent of its original forest cover has disappeared.
Commercial logging, clearance for agriculture, roads and railways,
forest fires, mining and drilling, fuelwood collection and clearance
for ...
... middle of paper ...
...ole of nature is a vast interrelated system which
currently exists in a more or less balanced state. Tampering with such
important factors as the rain forests could bring about irreversible
damage to the world as we know it.
A further consequence of deforestation concerns the scientific
possibilities which would be lost with the demise of the tropical rain
forests. It is estimated that only a small fraction of the plants and
animals living in rain forests have been identified, and some
scientists speculate that many of these may hold the keys to finding
cures for some of the most deadly diseases known to man. For example,
the US National Cancer Institute has catalogued some 3,000 plants with
anti-cancer properties, 70 per cent of which are found in tropical
forests. Who knows what other secrets the rain forests hold?
Of all of the issues that effect the planet Earth from a Global Change standpoint, one of the most visible and highly publicized is the issue of rainforest destruction. The loss of this emerald on the planet's crown will end life as we know it, if something is not done...
“In the time you can read this sentence, eight acres of tropical rain forest will have been bulldozed and burned out of existence” (Bloyd 49). However, this destruction has been neglected and overlooked for years. Many people do not understand the long-term consequences of losing the earth’s rain forests. The rain forests have provided people with many natural resources and medicines. The benefits that rain forests provide to people will be destroyed if the depletion continues to be disregarded.
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...
The rainforest is one of the most diverse places on our planet, containing over half or the world’s animal and plant species. Furthermore, it produces 40% of the world’s oxygen. We humans are cutting down trees, killing all the animals and plant living there, and reducing the size of rainforest.
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.
Deforestation is fast becoming one of the world’s worst environmental/geographical occurring disasters known to mankind, and is due to humankind’s greed, ignorance and carelessness when considering the future of our environment.
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 critical issues of environmental problems that are occurring today.
In South America lies the largest and most wondrous rainforest in the world, the Amazon Rainforest. This 1.4 billion acre forest represents over half of the planets remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most bio-diverse tract of rainforest in the world. Ten percent of all known species on the planet are found in this rain forest, most of which have yet to be discovered. For the past century, the Amazon has been gradually decreasing in size due to agricultural expansion, ranching, infrastructure projects, energy exploration and illegal logging. At its current state, the Amazon is losing land equal to the size of the state of Delaware every year. The destruction of this forest releases 340 million tons of carbon per year according to the World Wildlife Foundation, or WWF, which in turn cause climate changes everywhere around the world. Undiscovered species can hold the key to curing a plethora of diseases, but if those species become extinct those keys are lost forever. If nothing is done to prevent this, the world’s treasure trove of bio-diversity will cease to exist, creating irreversible damage to not only the South American people but also the rest of the world.
The forests around the world a supply a plethora of community amenities and commercial goods , nevertheless forested terrain progressively is becoming transformed to accommodate other uses, including cropland, pasture, mining, and urban areas, which can produce superior private financial returns. The wide array of benefits the forest provides that vanish directly tied to deforestation have resulted in several policies drafted with the sole intention to reduce the frequency of deforestation. This paper has two primary objectives. First, this paper will review and summarize both the preceding and current research on deforestation. Second, it will emphasize the significance of future research and development, as well as other solutions needed
There is still much work to be done in preventing deforestation in Africa, but with the help of African people, Non-Governmental Organizations, donor governments, and the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa must work together to combat the problem of deforestation in Africa. We believe deforestation can be significantly reduced in Africa with the support of external bodies that have a role to play in reducing population rates in Africa. In fact, all Non-Governmental Organizations and Western countries should be able to provide knowledge about the solution to the problem of deforestation, and methods on how to handle the problem with a specific technique. As a matter of fact, African countries must take the primary responsibility of their problem because ultimately their people are most affected by deforestation.
Rainforests once covered 14% of the worlds land surface, however now it only covers a mere 6%. It is estimated that all rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Trees are becoming more needed and used everyday. We need them cut down for many reasons such as paper and timber, while also needing them ‘untouched’ for other reasons like oxygen, we have to ask ourselves, which is more important? At the current rate, most of the rainforests are being cut down for resources like paper and timber, but less importance is being placed on main resources like oxygen.
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.
since the beginning of time. Man has been destroying trees for the use of wood for
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.