...DEFORESTATION Environmental Science with Lab Sabbir Chowdhury November 1, 2015 ILAB 1 Exercise 1: Discuss 5 products that come from tropical rain forests. Tropical rain forest consist of many types of products, because of deforestation many types of plants and products are getting demolished. This is a negative sign for the rainforest because the more deforestation there is the smaller the chance of finding rain forest products. Some of the products which you will find in the rain forest are Pharmaceuticals plants which are very tough to find. Strychnine is a plant which is used for heart disease. Curare is plant used for relaxation for the muscle. Some others products you can find are Guava, Avocado, Coconut Oil. If deforestation continues then there is a high risk chance of finding these products in future (Tropical Rainforest Resources , n.d.). Exercise 2: With clear examples, discuss 5 major causes of deforestation. Major causes of deforestation are human population, logging, agriculture, urbanization, and plantation. There are more than 7 billion population in this world, and to accommodate everyone’s and new born coming to everyday life, we will need more lands and houses to build for them. Logging is another cause of deforestation. All of the wood based industry such as furniture’s, papers etc are need of so many wood supply. Wood is used as a fuel for so many reasons, and this requires the need of chopping down so many trees. Agriculture is one of the major...
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...Deforestation has become a serious global issue which is resulting in many negative effects such as a loss of biodiversity, land erosion and climate change. Deforestation can be broadly defined as “forest conversion and different types of degradation that reduce forest quality” (Sven, 2000). The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) provides a narrow definition: “depletion of tree crown cover to less than 10% as the deforestation” (FAO, 1993: 10). Forests play a significant role in humanity’s life. According to the World Rainforest Movement (1998), 25% of medicines come from the forests. Moreover, over the past 8000 years, about 5000 square miles of forest has been cut down annually (Rochen, 2008; Seitz, 2008). There are three main causes which lead to the deforestation: logging, overpopulation and road construction. This essay will examine each cause and evaluate the effects. It will begin with discussing the causes of deforestation. Next, it will examine the serious effects. Industrial logging is one of the most significant causes of deforestation. According to Phelps (2005), industrial logging is the clearance of trees for commercial purposes. In West Africa, over the past 40 years, about 2800-3500km² forests have been logged every year (Middleton, 2008). The peasants in Africa play an important role but it is modern industry that cut down so many trees. For example, as Heller (2001) found, every year more than 800 square miles of trees disappear due to the demand of paper...
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... Deforestation and the Environment Mankind has been cutting down trees since we first appeared in this world, for kindling, shelter, weapons and in more modern times for paper, furniture and housing. Changing and adapting the environment to suit our needs. Thousands of acres of forest have been cut down to satisfy our insatiable demand for wood and land in a process known as deforestation. Deforestation is defined as the clearing of trees from an area of woodland or forest for many different reasons such as farms, ranches, or urbanization, all of which are commercial uses. Although deforestation makes our lives easier, it takes a toll on our environment. Deforestation causes many negative effects to the environment. Two of those negative effects are the loss of biodiversity and the increasing of global warming. Deforestation can lead directly to the loss of biodiversity. Deforestation can cause certain tree species to permanently disappear, which, in turn, affects the biodiversity of plant species in our environment. Forests provide abundance in resources for humans such as timber, food and medicines. Many plants develop specific chemicals that can cure certain illnesses. We should be protecting the diversity of plant life in order to observe and study it, because is very likely that the cures to many diseases are out there, but at the rate that deforestation is occurring today, those species of trees are likely...
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...DEFORESTATION By: Madan Thapa Economics 2302 Tarrant County College Southeast Abstract This paper gives the definition of deforestation and also shows the effects of it in the environment. This paper talks about the programs that are implemented in three major parts of the world Brazil in South America, Congo Basin in Africa and Indonesia in Asia. A forest is a home of many animals, insects, and plants. Cutting down trees means making all of these creatures homeless and make them extinct. Deforestation means cutting down trees of a forest for other purposes such as to make a farm, for mining, to make roads and for grazing of cattle. Deforestation have a very serious effect on environment, but also people don’t stop cutting down trees because they need money, a space to build their houses, and to make space for agriculture as well. Cutting down tries without care have severe effect in the whole ecosystem. Although the effect of deforestation is high, the products made from the trees are a large part of the economy in both developed and developing countries. The trees are used in building houses, making papers and also for heating and cooking purposes. The cutting down of trees can help in increasing countries GDP for short term, but at the end it causes many devastating effects which leads into decrease in the economy. This can be seen in many developing countries. The major effect of deforestation can be seen in developing countries like Congo, Indonesia, and Brazil...
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...Name Instructors’ name Unit Date. Deforestation. Deforestation involves permanent destruction of forests and the land used for non-forest uses such as urbanization and agriculture. Deforestation in the world results in loss of an estimated 18 million acres of forest each year. Deforestation is also the reason about half of the tropical forests in the world have been cleared, and forests cover only about 30% of the world’s land mass (Chakravarty 4). The effects of deforestation are far reaching where loss of forest covers contributes to an estimated 15% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions significant contribution to global warming. Trees play a major role in the water cycle; deforestation causes less rainfall and desertification. Deforestation also causes increased soil erosion and loss of biodiversity. The main cause of deforestation is Agriculture. Forest land is cleared by man and used for subsistent farming as well as commercial agriculture for large scale cash crops such as soy, palm oil, and cattle ranching. Man also causes deforestation through logging; where trees are cut down to provide logs and timber for different uses (Chakravarty 14). Trees are also cut down to provide fuel wood for firewood and charcoal. Man also clears land for urbanization to keep up with globalization and also to house the ever increasing population. To control deforestation, there should be reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Programs that promote forest conservation...
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...Causes of Deforestation: Agriculture - As demands on agricultural products rise more and more land is brought under cultivation for which forests are cleared, grass-lands ploughed, uneven grounds leveled, marshes drained and even land under water is reclaimed. Plantations and commercial agriculture - A major force behind deforestation is commercial agriculture: Wealthy companies clear large areas of forest to be converted into farmland. Commercial agriculture such as: Palm oil and acacia trees, cattle ranching, soybeans, etc. Urbanization - Industries and towns are developing in former rainforest. Hydroelectric power - Rivers are dammed and huge areas of forest are flooded as a result. Transport - Transport networks are built through the forest to link settlements. Industries - Forest are cleared to support industrial activities and extraction of resource, Two main types are: Logging for timber and mining for minerals. Forest Fires - Fire is often used to clear forested land, as it is cheaper than employing laborers and bringing in machinery to remove the trees and vegetation. The vegetation is cleared and left to dry out, then the area is set on fire. Burning of forest has taken place on a small scale for many thousands of years, by small groups of subsistence farmers, this is known as slash and burn agriculture. Mining - Large areas of forest are cleared for the open-cast mining of minerals such as iron, gold and copper. Roads - Road shave been...
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...In the Merriam-Webster dictionary deforestation is defined as “the action or process of clearing of forests; also: the state of having been cleared of forests.” Deforestation is a growing problem on the planet Earth. It takes away homes for thousands of species each year and it is becoming another problem for global warming. There are many reasons why this occurs throughout the lifetime of man. Whether it is naturally, agriculturally based or timber/lumber working, all of these factors are a major reason why the forests on the Earth are slowly diminishing. Deforestation is big in the Amazon that is mainly located in Brazil, the Congo Basin that is mainly located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and on the island of Madagascar. One reason why deforestation is occurring is just based on natural causes, such as forest fires that at times are useful but other times become a problem when the happen in the wrong areas, droughts that are never good because it causes plants and animals to lose their food sources and eventually vanish. The second mainly occurs when farmers next to the forests cut down acres of trees to get more land for them to grow their crops and feed their farm animals. They usually do this because their soil will become dry and will not be useful any longer, so they chop down some trees from the forest area so that they can use the soil in there. The third big problem of why this occurs is because of lumber companies that illegally cut more wood that they are...
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...DEFORESTATION 1. Introduction The year 2011 is ‘The International Year of Forests’. This designation has generated momentum bringing greater attention to the forests worldwide. Forests cover almost a third of the earth’s land surface providing many environmental benefits including a major role in the hydrologic cycle, soil conservation, prevention of climate change and preservation of biodiversity. Forest resources can provide long-term national economic benefits. For example, at least 145 countries of the world are currently involved in wood production. At the same time, Sufficient evidence is also available that the whole world is facing an environmental crisis on account of heavy deforestation. Nobody knows exactly how much of the world’s rainforests have already been destroyed and continue to be razed each year. Deforestation is a major issue in today’s era. In the name of modernization, man has cut down trees in great numbers that has lead to the destruction of great forests and the lives of many animals and plant species. We fail to realize that trees are the most important aspects of our planet and the existence of tress does play a vital role. 2. What is Deforestation Deforestation is the conversion of forest to an alternative permanent non-forested land use such as agriculture, grazing or urban development. Deforestation is the permanent devastation of native forests and woods. Deforestation is affecting our environment and the way...
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...ASSIGNMENT DEFORESTATION: A THREAT AGAINST OUR PLANET Student: Khuc Van Mai Student number: 20135988 Class: TA1.01 – K58 School of Foreign Languages Hanoi University of Science and Technology December 2014 Contents Introduction 1. Impacts of deforestation 2.1. Deforestation contributes to global warming 2.2. Deforestation loses biodiversity 2.3. Deforestation impacts soil negatively 2. Causes of deforestation 1.1. Population growth is an indirect reason of deforestation 1.2. Deforestation is rooted by urbanization and industrialization 1.3. Agriculture leads to deforestation 3. Solutions Conclusion References | 111233345567 | Deforestation: A threat against our planet Introduction Forests play an important role in our lives. Not only do they maintain biodiversity, for example providing food and shelters for animals and plants, but they also provide important sources such as food, woods, and herb medicines for human beings. They, moreover, help control climate and prevent soil from erosion. Forests, however, are under threat by deforestation – an act of clearing trees to exploit resources like woods, minerals, medicines and to create land for agricultural activities or space for building facilities, for instance houses, roads, etc. Deforestation is a pressing problem, and it is killing our planet because of many reasons. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of deforestation on our...
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...Growing global concern over protecting our environment has prompted nations to band together to address the harmful impact of deforestation in Brazil. Global warming has become a reality, and deforestation has played a major part in its occurrence. Trees naturally absorb most of the carbon and greenhouse gases in our air, while simultaneously releasing oxygen. The removal of trees not only reduces the ability of carbon in our air to be absorbed, but it releases stored up carbon into the air, which is a contributing factor to global warming. Additionally, as the earth’s natural canopy is removed, nothing is standing between the sun’s rays and the ground, which is causing the ground to retain the heat from the sun. This leads to an increase...
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...an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect.The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. The causes of increasing greenhouse gases are: Burning fossil fuels, thus releasing into the atmosphere carbon that has been safely stored for millions of years by burning coal, oil and natural gas for transport and electricity. An enormous demand for electricity. The growing population of the earth all want cars, refrigerators, air-conditioning and a double garage. Most electricity is generated by burning coal. A constant and growing demand for red meat. Cattle belch out methane, a toxic greenhouse gas, much more dangerous than carbon dioxide. More and more forests and bushland, which absorb carbon dioxide from the air, are being cut down so more cattle can graze. A reduction in the planet's ability to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The earth has natural sources of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), and has had long before mankind began altering the environment, but the earth has natural means to actually remove some greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide which is removed by plants (especially dense, tall forests) through photosynthesis. Global deforestation...
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...Deforestation in Indonesia and Philippines Deforestation has been a major issue on the global agenda for over 20 years. This problem has effected people, government and business around the world. The purpose of this essay is to compare the deforestation in two Asian countries which are Indonesia and Philippines. It looks at the incidences of the deforestation, the main causes and some government policies in these two countries. Deforestation is a major issue in Indonesia and it is getting worse rapidly. The loss of primary forest is increasing by an average of 47,600 hectares every year. According to a paper published in the June 29th edition of the journal Nature Climate Change, Indonesia has now overtaken Brazil as the country with the highest rate of annual loss in primary forest in the world (R.C., 2014). It was found that the Indonesia rapidly lost 840,000 hectares of the forest (Hellmann, 2014). Indonesia. The huge destructions that cause the lost to Indonesia rainforests is the carbon-rich peatlands for palm oil and paper threatens. Peatlands store huge amount of carbon and Indonesia's peatlands are vast. It stores around 35 billion tonnes of carbon. This is the major reason why Indonesia is also one of the world's largest emitters of climate changing greenhouse gases. Moreover, huge amount of carbon dioxide are being released from deforestation on peat soils. Seventeen out of sixty six percent...
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...Adryen SEKA 10/09/2015 ENGL-121 Instructor: Yu Bai Topic: The causes of global warming Climate changes are not new. The studies conducted by the researchers show that global temperature during the prehistoric times was generally warmer than today except during the 5 ice ages. Changes in our climate are indeed as old as our planet earth. However, global warming is one of the biggest issues of the twenty first century. Many researchers, scientists, and environmentalists are expressing concerns about changes on the climate on earth. Some believe that the climate is becoming abnormally warmer an issue which is referred as “global warming”. That’s why the major part of the world comes together to discuss about what are the causes and which impact they have on the life on earth. More and more countries are joining the meeting to discuss about how to define new restrictions to prevent and slow down the global warming. The surface of the earth which is warming up is not without consequences. Indeed some negative effects of the global warming have a heavy impact such as the rise in sea levels, less precipitation, expansion of the desert retreat of glaciers and sea ice. All these effects have their own consequences and there are many reasons which explain this global warming. Overpopulation, deforestation and burning of fossil fuels are listed as causes of the global warming. Fifty years ago the world population was about 3.7 billion with an emission of fossil fuels of 14 billion...
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...spice that is made from the ground. Furthermore, the pineapple is a tropical plant that has a sweet flavor, yellowish in color, and low in saturated fats. Next, we have Cayenne Pepper that is grown in Guinea. Cayenne Pepper is used as a cooking spice. For dinner, I had consumed some Raw Kale that was topped with Cayenne Pepper. Last, we have Agave which is natural sweeter nectar from the Agave Plant. Agave serve a few great purposes such as it absorbs slowly into the body so that it does not cause a rapid increase in blood sugar as graduated sugar does. Agave contributes to a sustainable environment in which we do not deplete our natural resources. Agave provides a great taste to breads, toasts, waffles, and pancakes. 2. Discuss 5 major causes of Deforestation: Deforestation is the process of removing trees and other vegetation covering the soil and converting the forest to another land use, often leading to erosion and loss of soil fertility. The causes of deforestation are agricultural expansion, wood extraction, Infrastructure expansion such as road...
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...Deforestation Identifying the Problem Deforestation is the removal of related ecosystems or rainforests into ecosystems that are less biodiverse such as croplands, pastures, or plantations. Also, more people need wood to make furniture, houses, and many more everyday things. An estimated 18 million acres of forest are lost each year. Believe it or not but in 100 years if the current rate of deforestation continues all forests will be gone. This will cause terrible effects on the global climate and it will get rid of the majority of plant and animal species on the planet. Deforestation is mainly due to our acts that are totally against the laws of nature. To create new land area for people forests are being destroyed. This trend shows the greed of humans and the increasing needs. There are two different types of deforestation: Clear Cutting and Slash and Burn. Clear Cutting is cutting down a large area of trees that are standing at the same time. Slash and Burn is when people cut down all the foliage in a forest and burn it to access the nutrients. (4) A lot of the countries with high amounts of deforestation are the ones that are developing. For the countries to grow and develop their economies they need access to more resources, employment of people, logging to manufacture more timber products, and agricultural expansion. The solution to getting all these positive things is deforestation. The world’s highest rates of deforestation are happening in the economies...
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