Major Causes Of Deforestation

Mahek Prasad

Ms. Newmyer

Science 8

Deforestation

Deforestation is clearing Earth’s forests on a massive scale. The world was once covered in ancient forests, 80% of which have been either destroyed or degraded. Half of this destruction has occurred in the last 30 years. Forests are home to 70% of all land-living plants and animals and cover nearly a third of the Earth’s land surface. They produce fresh air for the planet and are vitally important to the health of our planet. They regulate the water cycle and the climate by soaking up and storing carbon dioxide, and stabilize soils. Millions of people depend on them for survival. The remaining great forests are: The North American Forest, Central American Forest, Amazon Forest, South American

Commercial logging, which is providing wood for commercial purposes, is the primary cause for the clearing of forests and deforestation. Political stability is another component to forest clearings; with rising populations and need of basic amenities, it results in a greater need of trees. Modernization and industrialization is another cause to deforestation. Ever since the industrial revolution, air pollution has been a major threat to forests. Air pollution is the source of acid rain, which weakens and damages trees and poisons the soil in the forests. Farmers also impact deforestation. Famers move to the forest in search of land for growing crops and burn trees to produce ash for fertilizer. In the tropical forests the soil is too poor to sustain agriculture, hence farmers move on to another area of the forest, leaving behind a patch of deforested land that is degraded of nutrients. Ranching and large-scale agriculture leads to deforestation because raising cattle and crops has resulted in the clearing of forests to free up

We do notice some clearings along the west of Kenya in the Mau Forest. In 2009, deforestation reached its peak at 400,000 acres that was cleared at the Mau Forest. However, in the whole world, 12-15 million hectares of forests are lost every year. A country where deforestation is very rapid is Indonesia and it is substantial compared to Kenya. In Indonesia, deforestation involves long-term loss of forest across much of the country. Indonesia is home to some of the most biologically diverse forests in the world. It has the fastest rate of deforestation in the past 12 years as the country burns down its forests without any attempt to protect them. The country has lost 15.8 million hectares of forest in the last 12 years. Between 2000 and 2003, the rate of deforestation was one million hectares in a year. However, the years 2011 and 2012, the rate of deforestation has doubled and increased to 2 million hectares a