“The world’s rainforests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.” Says National Geographic. The world’s forests play and important role in providing everyday necessary benefits such as food, water, shelter, clothing, traditional medicine, and most importantly, they maintain an equilibrium in the world’s environment, which if drastically altered, can negatively affect its surroundings. The two main causes that contribute to the deterioration and or extinction of the world’s forests are deforestation and illegal logging. Deforestation is the eradication of vast forests without replacing the lost trees by simultaneously planting new ones. Not all deforestation is intentional. Deforestation can be caused by natural wildfires or overgrazing. Intentional deforestation may be attributed to illegal logging. These individuals who contribute to illegal logging, intentionally harvest trees in a number that is more than necessary. They harvest trees in areas where there are protected species, and in areas where logging is prohibited. Illegal logging companies take business away from companies that follow the law and participate in fair logging with set limitations and regulations. And in order to keep track of and limit the immense number of forests being cut down every year, the government must take action. The government should monitor illegal logging and deforestation of forests which in turn negatively affects out already fragile environment by initiating soil erosion; a loss of species; community disturbances; and carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
As was previously stated, soil erosion is a main contributor to the deterioration of forests caused by deforestation and illegal logging. The r...
... middle of paper ...
... Web. 2 Oct. 2013.
Barringer, Felicity. "Limits on Logging Are Reinstated." Nytimes.com. New York Times Company, 16 July 2009. Web. 4 Jan. 2014.
Gerken, James. "11 Animals That Are Now Extinct ... And It's Our Fault." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
“Modern Day Plague.” National Geographic. www.enviroment.nationalgeographic.com. 3.Nov.2013.Web.
Nelson, Tom H. "June 6 Letters to the Editor." MercuryNews.com. Bay Area News Group, 5 June 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
Nuwer, Rachel. “A New Satellite Tool Tracks Deforestation.” New York Times. 25. June, 2012.Web.30 Oct. 2013.
Spray, Sharon L., and Matthew David Moran. Tropical Deforestation. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. Print.
"STUDY SAYS SOIL EROSION COULD CAUSE FAMINE." The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 Sept. 1984. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
Web. The Web. The Web. 14 Nov. 2013. The "LIFE AND TIMES.
The Web. The Web. 22 March 2014. Lizza, Ryan. The.
Web. The Web. The Web. 18 Feb. 2014. Neporent, Liz.
Tropical rain forests across the globe are currently threatened by massive deforestation for logging, grazing, and cultivation (Otzen 1993). Such land-use practices alter temperature regimes (Fernandes and Sanford 1995) as well as ground, soil, and surface water, flora, fauna, and microorganisms (Otzen 1993). These changes may result in a loss of soil organic matter, a decrease in soil fertility (Garcia-Oliva et al. 1994, Tissen et al. 1994), severe soil erosion (Otzen 1993), and changes in soil structure and chemistry (Fernandes and Sanford 1995, Sollins et al. 1995, Montgagnini and Sancho 1994.)
WPF/World Preservation Foundation, 2010, Deforestation statistics, sponsored by WPF, viewed 3rd November 2013, Available at: http://www.worldpreservationfoundation.org/blog/news/deforestation-statistics/#.UoFtypQY3TV
The Web. The Web. 23 Jan. 2014. Cassidy, John. The.
The Web. The Web. 6 Jan. 2014. Smith, Chris.
Lindsey, Rebecca. "Tropical Deforestation : Feature Articles." Tropical Deforestation : Feature Articles. NASA, 30 Mar. 2007. Web. 01 Mar. 2014. .
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...
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
Web. The Web. The Web. 14 May 2014. Stanley, Jay.
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...
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.