Do you know that agricultural lands cover 31% of the earth? And because of deforestation processes these lands are disappearing. Deforestation is defined as removing the forests which includes trees, and plants to make the land accessible for different uses. Forests are important as it is a home of many creatures and it also surrounds the earth with large quantities of oxygen and the disposal of carbon. Some species are suffering from deforestation actions because they depend on these trees and plants as a shelter and as a food source.
The high demand for more farmland helps drive the need to cut down more trees, which in turn, contributes to deforestation. Tropical forests have the highest impact rate when it comes to deforestation due to agriculture. In the tropics, only the topsoil is highly fertile, so when the nutrient-rich soil is gone, people cut down more trees to find more fertile topsoil. Tropical forests lose thousands of acres daily due to agricultural use. One way people take out trees for agriculture us is a process called “slash and burn”.
2). The rainforests, which are being cut down very rapidly are home to about 80 percent of the vast different species on the planet (“The World” 2)! Estimates from the Stern Report show that deforestation is responsible for at least 25 percent of global warming causing, greenhouse gases, compared to transportation and industry equaling only 28 percent total (Howden 1). All governments from around the world must put stricter laws in place to stop this destruction of, wildlife nurturing, tropical rainforests before it is too late.
“It is estimated that in 100 years, there will be no rainforests left. The rate of deforestation is equal to the loss of 20 football fields every minute.” (“Deforestation Facts” 1) As a result, there are fewer trees to absorb carbon emissions and groundwater, which affects climate and the water table. Deforestation is the loss of trees, usually due to manmade causes, such as urbanization, mining, logging, and agricultural activities. One of the most overall effected forests is the Amazon. The world’s most expansive forest, the Amazon, is the site of the greatest projected loss of natural life-sustaining habitat and beauty due to deforestation which makes efforts to conserve the forest and save its defenseless inhabitants a critical priority and essential duty of our time.
Eighty percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes. It is estimated that we are losing 137 plant, animal, and insect species every day which equates to 50,000 species a year (National Geographic). Orangutans, giant pandas, rhinos, and the Asian elephant are just a few of hundreds of endangered species due to deforestation. Removing trees thins the forest canopy which is meant to block sun rays during the day and holds in the heat at night. This damaging disruption leads to extreme temperature swings that are harmful to plants and animals.
This report is written to examine the effects of deforestation on the development countries as there have been many arguments on whether deforestation benefits or bring harms to the countries. Deforestation is a process whereby trees are felled for several purposes but without replanting to replace the ones felled (Aina & Salau 1992 cited in Ebenezer 2015). Scientists estimated that since 1960, due to deforestation, one third of the world’s useful land had lost (Bradford 2015). By the late 1980s, it was forecasted that two fifth of the global rain forests had already been destroyed (Stanford 1990). Deforestation brings many effects either to society or country.
Burning up forests to create crop land and harvesting timber unregulated has destroyed more than 15% of the Amazon forests in just about last 30 years. Tropical rain forest which covers 6% of the earth’s land area is the home to more than half of the known species. We do not know yet how many of these forests are also falling to burning, lumbering, development, and acid rain. Developed countries are chipping in some rescue efforts. One may question as to why people in the developed countries care about the survival of tropical forests.
The rate at which deforestation is increasing globally is very alarming. Over the years, deforestation is increasing at a dangerous level. Deforestation is on the rise due to the fact that out of the total population on earth, just a little percentage are well informed about deforestation, its causes and effects. This lack of information has not just affected the earth physically but is also affecting the total populace and our economy. According to Merriam Webster pocket dictionary, deforestation is said to be, ‘the action or process of clearing a forest; also the state of having been cleared of forest’.
The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. Seventy percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes. The more workable solution is to carefully manage forest resources by eliminating clear-cutting to make sure that forest environments remain intact.
This process is destroying the natural habitat of all the millions of diverse spices that Amazon has to offer, as well as killing the total of two thirds of the word's plant spices. Moreover, deforestation contributes to about fifteen percent of annual global greenhouse gas emission. At the current rate of deforestation the worlds resort of Rainforest's could be gone in the next hundred years. Today, we have already lost half of the planets tropical forests. Agriculture is responsible for about eighty percent of the total tropical deforestation.To save the Rainforest's, deforestation needs to be stopped, or at least slowed down.