The Negative Effects of Deforestation

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Humans rely on trees in many aspects for their day-to-day lives. Trees provide food, shelter, medicines, and a fresh supply of oxygen. As of 2014, thirty percent of earth supports forests, but that number rapidly decreases. Because of deforestation, Earth loses swaths of forests the size of Panama every year. The people responsible for this mainly falls to the loggers who chop down trees for lumber and farmers who clear the trees away to make room for agriculture. Loggers and farmers should end deforestation to prevent the extinction of species and to avoid the extreme climate changes.
As people cut down trees, it destroys the habitats of millions of plants and animals that may not survive to find another home and eliminating potential medicines. In a study conducted to investigate the impact of deforestation on birds, the experiment “resulted in a decrease in suitable habitat of between 78% and 93% for the Atlantic forest birds included here” (Loiselle et. al. 1288). Because trees affect every living part of the environment, if trees disappeared, the amount of decrease in suitable habitat for the Atlantic forest birds would appear similar for the most of the other forest-dwelling species. If between 78 and 93 percent of forest animals became extinct, it would impact humans by a drastic decrease in the amount of food available. After the destruction of a forest, “only 50 to 80 percent of plant species may return to logged or altered areas, and many animal species will not survive the transition” (Environmental News Service). Even though replanting trees has benefits, it is not the same because not all of the biodiversity in plant species grows back. It affects the animals by when the habitats vanish, they do not adapt to another...

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...ete. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.

Moraes, E. C., Sergio H. Franchito, and V. Brahmananda Rao. “Amazonian Deforestation: Impact of Global Warming on the Energy Balance and Climate.” Journal of Applied Meteorology & Climatology 52.3 (2013): 521-530. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Morano, Marc. “The Amazon Rain Forest is Not in Danger of being Destroyed.” Rainforests. Ed. Haisong Harvey. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. At Issue. Rpt. From “Q: Is the destruction of the Amazon’s Rainforest an Eco-Myth?’ Insight on the News (2000). Opposing views points in context. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

National Geographic. “Deforestation: Facts, Causes, and Effects.” N.p., 11 August 2010. Google. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

University of Leeds. "Loss of tropical forests reduces rain." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 September 2012. .

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