Mainhia Moua
Midterm Paper: Deforestation
GEOG 1021, Professor McKay
October 25th, 2014
Deforestation: Lungs of Earth Did you know that the homes of 50% of plants and animals are located in tropical rainforests (“Rainforest”)? Well, this is indeed true. All of the world’s tropical rainforests are a crucial part to plants, animals, and even humans, as they provide us with several benefits: oxygen, climate, living conditions, and many more (“Panda”). But in the more recent decades as the economy is evolving, the human race has seen the need to take more of the tropical rainforests and other natural resources to fit their daily lives. Little do they know, animals, plants, and Mother Nature are being destroyed slowly as forests and lands are being
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As described by Alan F. Arbogast in his book Discovering Physical Geography, deforestation is “the process through which large tracts of land are cleared of trees by humans” (270). Today, deforestation is described as quite a major issue because the amount of forest cover in our global society is being reduced dramatically. In fact, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, continents South America and Africa experienced a -5.2% and -11.7% change in forest cover from years 1990-2010 respectively (Arbogast 271). South America and Africa’s forestland cover have declined these percentages, which many researchers believe contribute to deforestation. Too much forest cover is being used and not much attention is being paid to taking care of the land. When these natural lands are cleared, many problems can emerge, such as biodiversity in the tropical forest biomes, global warming, and ultimately, the “extinction of plant and animal species that have yet to be discovered” (Arbogast 271). Deforestation is an ongoing issue in our society today and has many reasons why it is caused in the first …show more content…
Agriculturally wise, many farmers use a technique called “slash and burn” to clear down old vegetation and set fire on these lands to provide nutrients for new land. Many countries have used this method to make a living, like the center of Africa, Southeast Asia, and northern South America. Although this practice has improved vegetation for those countries, it indirectly is contributing to indirectly harming the land (Stief). Forest cover may be lost forever in the long run. Colin Stief mentions in his article “Slash and Burn Agriculture Results in Tropical Habitat and Biodiversity Loss” that nutrients and biodiversity may be loss, land may not grow back in time, and gasses emitted may contribute to global warming
This article describes the history of deforestation around the world and explaining how deforestation started as part of a civilizing process. Then the article tells that human populations increase causes deforestation because humans need more land for food, water, and for living purposes. Also in the last part of the article it talks about how the future of deforestation is worse than the present, even with our reforestation efforts the environment is being destroyed to fast for us to stop especially in the
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.
Farmers are a large problem for the tropical rain forests in South America. When farmers need more land, they start to chop trees down in the rain forest to make more space for farming. Rainforests once covered more than 14 percent of the earth. Sadly, rainforests now cover about 6 percent of the earth, which leads to the destruction of various animals’ habitats.
Nowadays deforestation is the one of the most important and controversial environmental issues in the world. Deforestation is cutting down, clearing away or burning trees or forests. Particularly tropical rainforests are the most waning type of forests because of its location in developing countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, India, central African countries and Brazil. Deforestation rate in those regions is high enough to worry about, because of large economic potential of forest areas. As the result of causes such as agriculture land expansion, logging for timber, fire blazing and settling infrastructure there might be serious impacts in future. For instance, extinction of endemic species of animals and plants which will be feral, increase of greenhouse gas emissions which may lead to global warming and consecutive catastrophes, destruction of home for indigenous residents which is considered as violation of human rights. Some people can argue with these drawbacks telling that deforestation have more valuable benefits such as growth of economics, production of food and providing better opportunities for life for poor families. However, these benefits are quite temporary and government of that countries and world organisations tries to halt deforestation proposing several solutions. Deforestation problem is especially acute in the Brazilian Amazon, where its rate is much high comparing with other regions. This paper will describe world-wide rainforests, causes and effects of deforestation, and evaluate possible solutions of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
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.
“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 the permanent removal of forests to make room for other uses of the land (McIntyre). The Amazon rainforest stretches for 1.6 million square miles, holds 1/10 of the world’s species and provides natural assets for both regional and national economies (“Deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest”). Despite its great importance to the Earth, the Amazon rainforest is perhaps the most threatened area of deforestation around the world. Timothy Casey reports that in Brazil alone, 5.4 million acres of rainforest have been destroyed for the past 30 years, decreasing the size of the Amazon by eighteen percent (13). A main aspect of this issue is that it destroys habitats for important species, causing extinction and endangerment. The Golden Lion Tamarin, one of the most endangered species in the world, is in jeopardy of disappearing with the rainforest. Their habitats have been fragmented into small, unconnected areas and their food sources limited (Lang). Once the golden lion tamarins disappear, it can no longer fulfill its niche and the entire system is threatened.
Loss of forests all over the world are causing major ecological problems. "Direct causes of deforestation in the countries are, agricultural expansion, wood extraction and wood harvest for domestic fuel" (Pryzborski 4). The major countries deforesting are, Brazil, south Africa, Britain, and the U.S. “Less than 2% of ...
Is deforestation nicknamed “the modern day plague” by national geographic a global issue in the 21st century? This question breeds a lot of debate when it comes to the controversial topic of deforestation but, the answer is simply yes. The reasons behind deforestation being such a global issue stems from the affects that it has on the sustainability of the air for living organisms such as people, variables that also cause changes in the weather, and negative alterations within the food supply. The reasons behind deforestation being such a controversial topic are the fact that this project carries a lot of pros behind it, but many believe the pros do not outweigh the cons. One major con behind this being the utilization of heavy machinery and the removal of trees through deforestation are very damaging to the environment.
Timber and especially hardwoods like mahogany and ebony are being felled at an alarming rate to satisfy the needs of the swiftly developing world. Another problem for the forest areas of the world is the type of agriculture used by some peasant farmers known as "slash & burn". This method of farming involves the burning of trees to add to the initial supply of nutrients in the soil. Over time this supply slowly wares down and so the farmer once again moves onto another plot of trees to slash and burn.
The single biggest direct cause of tropical deforestation is conversion to cropland and pasture, mostly for subsistence, which is growing crops or raising livestock to meet daily needs. The conversion to agricultural land usually results from multiple direct factors. For example, countries build roads into remote areas to improve overland transportation of goods. The road development itself causes a limited amount of deforestation. But roads also provide entry to previously inaccessible—and often unclaimed—land. Logging, both legal and illegal, often follows road expansion (and in some cases is the reason for the road expansion). When loggers have harvested an area’s valuable timber, they move on. The roads and the logged areas become a magnet for settlers—farmers and ranchers who slash and burn the remaining forest for cropland or cattle pasture, completing the deforestation chain that began with road building. In other cases, forests that have been degraded by logging become fire-prone and are eventually deforested by repeated accidental fires from adjacent farms or pastures.
Deforestation is a major concern in today’s society. The destruction of the world’s forest areas are leaving millions of acres uninhabitable. The varied species of animals and insects that use to live and thrive from these forests are rapidly becoming extinct. The destruction of the forest is also having a detrimental effect on the people through displacement thus forcing them to seek new living accommodations. Many of these people are loosing their heritage and cultures leaving them with a sense of hopelessness. The barren land left by deforestation is also causing many ecological problems. Increased flooding and soil erosion are two of the other problems facing several countries like China, Brazil, and the Philippines. To gain a better understanding of the immense significance of this matter perhaps a look at the past, present and future are needed.
In fact, that cause some serious problems to the public health. For example, according to Pakenham (2013), the CO2 level has been high in the atmospheric. This example shows how human are responsible for most of the accumulation of this gas by burning trees. Also, deforestation lead to lack of food. Many people today cannot find vegetables and the cost to get some is considerably expansive because there are not enough trees to fulfil consumers’ demands.
A tragic effect of the loss of the rainforest is the extinction of plants and animals that could provide us with food, medicine or valuable products. Thousands of species disappear each year. This leads to a poorer world with less biodiversity. One surprising result of the destruction of the rainforest is that soils and nutrients are washed away. When the trees are cut down, the soil is exposed to the heavy rain and quickly becomes infertile and useless. The forest cannot grow again, and the people who used the land have to move on. One of the most serious effects is global warming. When the trees in the rainforest are cut down, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide acts as a blanket, trapping the sun’s heat and warming the planet. This can have huge consequences for the world’s
Urquhart, G., Chomentowski, W., Skole, D., & Barker, C. (2001). Tropical Deforestation (1st ed., pp. 1-8). NASA. Retrieved from http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/tropical_deforestation_2001.pdf