TITLE : The Principal Effects and Causes of Deforestation of Rainforests
CLASS : AW 3
NAME : Azizahtun Aimanhusna binti Sabani
STUDENT ID : 023
TEACHER : Mr. Gerard Brennan
The Principal Effects and Causes of Deforestation of Rainforests
Deforestation is the clearing or removal of a forest or area of trees in order to use the land for other activities. Deforestation is a critical as no country in the world has succeeded in tackling the issue perfectly, despite the never-ending efforts made. The long-lasting effects of this matter are indeed, enormously negative, therefore it is pivotal for humans to explore the wide variety of effects and causes of deforestation of rainforests worldwide. This essay will explore the effect of population rate, logging, and agricultural activities towards deforestation. Next, we will be examining the link between the three causes with loss of species, land quality, and indigenous people.
Population growth is a significant cause of deforestation, in which a high density of people in certain areas results in land shortages. When land supply is limited, people have no other
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Expansions of roads and other infrastructures meant for mining attracts farmers and ranchers. The existence of these infrastructures makes forests more accessible to the public. Subsequently, farmers and ranchers start exploring the forests, clearing the land, and settled there to conduct agricultural activities. Commercial agriculture includes tea, rubber and oil plantation. In fact, farmers in South East Asia clear almost 5,000 square kilometers per year (Golden and Miller, 1994). Concerning the increasing demand of agro-industrial crop, agricultural activities in the forests are not expected to slow down in the near future. Consumer demand encourages producers to produce even more because they are aware of the fact that prices will
Deforestation is the cutting down of a large area of trees and the destruction of forests by people. Forests are what we call an exhaustible resource, one which can be used up if it is not used carefully. Over the last few decades, deforestation has threatened the rainforests with total extinction. To understand why deforestation is such an important issue, you first have to understand why trees matter. Trees improve in many ways the life of all species, including the human race.
The Amazon rainforest, known as well as the Amazonia, is considered as the “lung of the planet,” due to it produces about 20% of earth’s oxygen. The Amazon is contained by the countries of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and the three Guianas (Amazon Rainforest). Unfortunately, one phenomenon that has been affecting the Amazon rainforest is the deforestation; according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, deforestation is the transformation of forest to non-forest land cover by human activities.
Deforestation presents in an abundance of ways, including fires, clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching and development, unsustainable logging for timber, and degradation due to climate change. The foremost reason of deforestation in Latin America is the requirement for food, fuel, shelter, and foreign exchange. Year on year, a space of tropical forest the size of Great Britain is "converted" from an area equal to the size of Europe. Ever since 1950, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), half of the world 's forests have disappeared. “Latin America has lost 37 percent of its tropical forests,” says the FAO. As more and more of Latin American forest are degraded, more and more detrimental effects are being seen. Deforestation is changing a number of resources for tribal groups, altering their way of life, temperatures are increasing at a dangerous rate because of a buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, habitats and species such as plants and wildlife are being annexed due to the destructive effects of deforestation. Deforestation is inarguably helpful to supplying money to countries that sell the products from the forest, but huge wealth being generated from the forests comes with large-scale environmental and social costs. The local residences are not benefitting and the funds are being siphoned out of the region.
Nowadays deforestation is the one of the most important and controversial environmental issues in the world. Deforestation is cutting down, clearing away or burning trees or forests. Particularly tropical rainforests are the most waning type of forests because of its location in developing countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, India, central African countries and Brazil. Deforestation rate in those regions is high enough to worry about, because of large economic potential of forest areas. As the result of causes such as agriculture land expansion, logging for timber, fire blazing and settling infrastructure there might be serious impacts in future. For instance, extinction of endemic species of animals and plants which will be
Advocates for the preservation of these forests state that deforestation has devastating consequences including social conflict, extinction of plants and animals, and dangerous climate changes, and that local deforestation in these forests are causing damages that aren’t just local, but global. While opponents claim that tropical forests are destined to diminish as it is necessary for the growing human population to clear the natural landscape to make room for farms and pastures, to harvest timber for construction and fuel, to build roads and urban areas and to develop the economies of the often poor countries that surround the equator.
A study by Mongbay shows a loss since 1978 until today of about 79% of forest deforestation. Decades ago when humans first occupied the earth and began to use fire; deforestation slow began. History has changed and so has technology and methods. The axe has evolved into a chainsaw which accelerates the process of deforestation. Chopping down trees has been the human quest for shelter, food, and warmth. Trees provide humans with wood for shelter. Wood also provides fire for fuel to keep us warm at night. Lastly trees provide us with human food such as roots, nuts, and branches for burning. Humans have used an axe and required endless energy to chop a tree down. The alternation from a stone axe to a chainsaw has increased the clearing of
Deforestation is an environmental problem everybody gets affected by; but not equally. Cutting down trees and degrading the soil of an eco-system can change it for the worse and leave it unrecoverable. The Amazon Rainforest is a large and very biodiverse ecosystem that stretches across 5,500,000 kilometers. The Amazon Rainforest is not a stranger to deforestation since the late 1960’s. Deforestation in the amazon forest will cripple all organisms that rely heavily on the forest to provide for a sustainable life, while others not directly impacted may benefit from it. Other people may benefit from the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest from the profit that comes with the use of land for agriculture/livestock. However, the tribes, plants, and animals, that live in the Amazon Rainforest suffer from the loss of Biodiversity, the habitat and resources that are being taken away from clearing forests, and the reduced air quality along with the increased carbon emissions. Deforestation is a process of demolition towards the ecosystem.
Deforestation is a problem that does not concern many people, but it is an issue that the people of Earth need to deal with. In the past 50 years deforestation has increased a significant amount, but people around the world have been removing the forests since the 1600s. The forests remaining are in danger as the human population goes up, the need for resources will also increase and this will make the deforestation of the last forests come quicker before humans realize it is too late. Unless the people address this threat to the world, it will be too late because this is something that can be fixed, the forests can be rebuilt but it has to start right now before there is nothing people can do. There are many causes for deforestation such as, clearing space for urbanization, making areas available for houses, or harvesting the lumber for goods and other consumer items and all of these have an effect on the world. The consequences of deforestation can affect all aspects of life on Earth, including the water cycle, the soil, and the life quality of species around the world.
From 1990 to 2005, deforestation, or the removal of trees, was happening at an average rate of 13 million hectares (32.11 million acres) per year (Hope 247). In many ways, deforestation has been the reason for great economic success which turns people on to the idea even more. Deforestation is an essential element in promoting and encouraging developmental growth. Some places around the world may feel obligated to resort to deforestation due to population increases around the world. The concept of deforestation may seem to have a positive impact on society, but many people fail to consider the importance of replanting the trees that were harvested and removed. Deforestation mainly affects North and South America, but because of the Transamazon
The reason why deforestation happen are many and they include the harvest of wood to make tins like paper and furniture for home, to produce thing that will be used in creating item for human beings like oil which can be got from palm tree, and to create areas that can be use for cattle
The rate of deforestation is increasing and the tropical forests are falling at approximately 140,000 acres per day (Miller & Tangley 1991: xvi). The forests are crucial to the environment. They are important in minimizing erosion, providing a stable habitat for many animals, and helping to keep the environment clean. Deforestation has devastating effects, not only on the biological dependents within the depleted forests, but also on the surrounding human-populated communities.
There are many causes/factors to deforestation, which are largely associated with direct human influence. The first proximate cause to deforestation is infrastructure expansion (Geist & Lambin, 2002, p. 144). This refers to transportation (roads), private and public markets, rural and urban settlements, and private and public services (water lines, oil exploitation, etc…) (Geist & Lambin, 2002, p. 144). The next cause is agricultural expansion, which includes, large or small-scale cultivations, shifting cultivations (slash and burn), and, of course, cattle ranching. Wood extractions for industrial and domestic purposes are other proximate causes to this issue.
Deforestation occurs for many reasons, agriculture due to the increasing need for food products, large amounts of trees are removed to grow crops and for animals (Deforestation and Its Effect, 2017). Logging because wood-based industries such as paper and furniture need a large supply of wood to produce the amount used by the population, the wood is also used as a fuel source (Deforestation and Its Extreme Effect, n.d.). Urbanization, the forests are destroyed to put in roads and buildings due to the growing population (Environmental Impact of Deforestation, n.d.). Forest fires are another way of
Deforestation is a major global problem with serious consequences to the planet. These consequences have a negative effect on the climate, biodiversity, the atmosphere and threatens the cultural and physical survival of life. Deforestation is the permanent destruction of indigenous forests and woodlands. It has resulted in the reduction of indigenous forests to four-fifths of their pre-agricultural area, so that now indigenous forests cover only 21% of the earth's land surface. The world Resources Institute regards deforestation as one of the worlds most pressing land use problem.
Deforestation is one of the largest environmental issues facing humanity in the twenty-first century. This type of environmental degradation involves cutting down trees in natural areas, mainly forests, in order to make room for human developments such as agriculture or infrastructure. Deforestation has been occurring for centuries all around the world, but as technology becomes more efficient and the human population continues to grow, the effects of deforestation now are greater than before. More land is being removed to provide for human needs and desires, which has, in turn, negatively affected the places being degraded as well as Earth’s environment as a whole.