The first people to explore the wilderness in what is now Oregon and Washington documented beautiful forests of mesmerizingly large trees as far as the eye can see. The explorer’s initial reports brought in people who came to make a profit off the forest and the vast amounts of lumber it could provide. Lumber mills were built before the area was even added to the union. The environmental footprint started out small, but the lack of regulation, lack of enforcement of the existing regulations, and an increase in technology quickly created a large environmental battle over the whole region. As civilizations impact on the region increased, so did the
In North Carolina there is huge deforestation problem. We are losing trees at a rapid pace and this must slow down or we will lose many of our natural ecosystems. I propose a solution to this problem, for every tree that is cut down you are legally required to plant a new tree. This would be put into place on a state level and would definitely help with the issue of the destruction of forests in North Carolina.
Canada is in the top 10 for worst ecological footprint, although this is not surprising at all. On Nov 29th, 2016, our Prime Minister approved 2 of 3 pipelines. These pipelines take away land, away from wildlife and first nations. Our carbon tax just passed, now we accept these pipelines, it doesn’t make sense at all. The whole world is harvesting down 3.5 acres of forest every MINUTE. Canada requires companies to plant a tree for every cut, but you are not getting the same forest in return. Canada has 385 endangered species, the reason it that the best land won’t be converted to a protected area, it would be used for farming, forestry, and housing. But I will give Canada one thing they have recognised the risk we are doing to our environment. They considered, and accepted the carbon tax; They are thinking about putting a cap and trade system, which is a limit on the pollution that can be emitted. Now, this can also be changed by Canada’s political aspect.
Deforestation affects majority of the population, including people and animals, across the nation and in my community.
All of the greenhouse gases contribute to the atmosphere trapping heat and warming the earth and warming the Earth has many effects. The earth being warmed, meaning from North Pole to South Pole, melts ice in the poles. The melting of the ice causes sea levels to rise and the effect of that is flooding and lost habitat for animals. Increase in temperature makes some of population of plant and animal species go down. Increase in temperature also affects the weather. When large storms hit land with these increased sea levels it causes large storm surges that can destroy anything in its paths. If temperatures continue to rise other natural disasters could occur ("Global Warming Will Produce More Katrina-Like Storms"). A warmer wetter atmosphere could spawn more tropical storms and there will be floods in places that do not get much rainfall. Humans could prevent these problems if they were to cut down on the use of fossil fuels and use more renewable energy. Renewable energy consists of wind, solar, and lunar power. Humans also could drive fuel efficient
Burning fossil fuels and the increase of greenhouse gases is causing the earth to warm. Although this gas is the source of the problem we still need it, without this gas the earth would be very cold. What the greenhouse effect is a layer of gas that surrounds the earth,
The Brazilian Amazon is home to 40% of the world’s tropical rainforest. Incidentally, it also has the world’s fastest rate of deforestation. Tropical Rainforests around the world are lost at the rate of one acre per second with the average rate of Brazilian Amazon being such that 2 million hectares of forest land are cleared every year. There are multiple causes for this extensive rate of deforestation and this paper will address four such causes namely (1) rapid population growth, (2) industrial logging and mining, (3) changing spatial patterns of deforestation, and (4) wildfires. Moreover, there are several Brazilian state policies that encourage deforestation practices of which this paper will look at five key aspects – (1) taxes on agricultural income, (2) rules of land allocation, (3) land taxes, and (4) tax credit schemes and subsidized credits. However, despite rapid deforestation there have been long drawn efforts made by the domestic and global actors for forest conservation and curbing practices of deforestation. This has led to a tussle between pro-development and pro-environment policy networks trying to influence policies which directly affect the Amazon Rainforest and its inhabitants. The paper will also analyze 4 stages in the history of Brazil from 1960s to now in light of such policy networks.
Climate change is believed to be the biggest issue facing the Earth. It is a long-term change in the Earth’s temperatures and climate (“Climate Change”, Dictionary.com). Our atmosphere is part of the reason why we can live on Earth with reasonable temperatures. Humans have been emitting unnatural greenhouse gases, like coal, oil, and gas. This is changing the natural systems that take place in our atmosphere. When all these extra gases are released, carbon dioxide stars to accumulate in the atmosphere. Climate change is a global issue because when the temperature of the Earth changes even very slightly, it can cause droughts and our crops can die. This is affecting our food supply. Also, when water levels rise even slightly, it can be very destructive for
Deforestation is also another important reason for global warming. Plants release oxygen and take in carbon, thus providing us a clean and healthy environment. But by deforesting the lands, the trees would emit the carbon stored in them from hundreds of years making the air impure.
Despite their importance, it has been estimated that more than 50 million acres of rainforests are destroyed or seriously degraded every year.
Deforestation is defined as the permanent destruction of forests in order to make land available for other uses. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 18 million acres of forest are lost each year. This equals to approximately 36 football fields of forest being cleared each minute. Though deforestation occurs all over the world, it’s the tropical forests which are being particularly targeted. Due to this countries such as Indonesia, Brazil, the Democratic republic of Congo and Thailand have a very
With deforestation being one of these roles because when we chop down these trees and plants of where animals habitats our it also releases a lot of carbon dioxide into the air. And if you didn’t know forests are major carbon storage centers, when deforestation happens all the carbon dioxide that is stored in these forests; is released back into the atmosphere. Deforestation not only contributes to changes in the climate, it also causes localized changes in the weather. Trees transpire, or release water into the atmosphere, during photosynthesis. This water replenishes clouds and maintains rainfall. Without the transpiration of trees, deforested areas become drier. Changes in weather and shelter cause deforested areas to undergo a tremendous loss of biodiversity. The scientist hasn’t even come close to testing 1% of the plants in the tropical rainforests for medicinal use, but they regularly discover species that are helpful to us the people. But, these forests and their potential benefits are looking like they may disappear by the end of this century if we don’t stop
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the important green house gases (GHGs) emitted in the atmosphere through various human and natural activities. The human activities include rapid industrialization and urbanization, deforestation, excessive use of fertilizers in agriculture, excessive use of fuels, papers and many other manmade resources whereas natural activities include volcano eruption, forest fires, earthquakes etc. Emission of GHGs in the atmosphere leads to global warming which is one of the primary reasons behind the atmospheric changes that affect the human life directly or indirectly. The consequences of global warming are extremely harsh seasons, untimely rains, extended summers and floods that results in human deaths, destruction of flora and fauna in addition to the huge economical losses.
Forests are heavily depended on for resources and ways of life. The Pachamama Alliance Organization claims that, “the tropical rainforests of South America are responsible for 20% of earth’s oxygen.” This proves the earth relies greatly on forests and may suffer consequences because of the speedy rate trees are being cut
Nowadays, environmental degradation has become an important issue. This is because environmental degradation is one of the largest threats that is being looked at in the world today. This is because of the depletion of important resources such as air, water, and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. To limit the impact of these situations, it is important to know the possible side-effects of environmental degradation. Therefore, there are several causes and negative effects of environmental degradation provided in this essay with some recommendations to prevent it.