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The Effects of Deforestation

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The Effects of Deforestation on the Environment

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Americans have not always been concerned about the environment until recent years, since the changes in weather have been severe and obvious. Environmental scientists have been analyzing ways in which we could keep Earth alive and well. Our dependency on natural resources is increasing; therefore, the planet we live on is beginning to deteriorate. In specific, attention has been brought upon issues such as: global warming, droughts, wild fires, etc. However, we forget to mention something that tends to be affected by some, if not all, of these issues: deforestation. Deforestation plays a key part on not only human lives, but on the lives of animals, creatures, insects that depend on trees for survival. Before getting to the root of the problem, we must know what deforestation is. According to, Andrea Becker, who writes for Seattle Pi, defines deforestation as “forest loss through urban sprawl, land clearing of agriculture, wildfire or timber harvest.” In other words, it can be described as the clearing of trees. It may not seem like an issue that is severe, but when it comes down to it, the clearing of trees tends to affect the ecosystem in a number of ways. It is important to keep in mind that deforestation does not only occur in the United States, it is a big problem in the Brazilian and Bolivian Amazons. In addition, deforestation threatens our climate as well as the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people that rely on forests for food and economic activity (Greenpeace). Forests also serve as habitats to rare and undiscovered animal and plant species and play a key role in providing water and preventing flooding and erosion (Greenpeace). Tropical rainforests are diverse ecosystems that are home to millions of species. These forests continue to shrink as they are exploited for wood and cleared for agriculture and other purposes. Elizabeth Reeder mentions “the rate of loss is two percent per year in Latin America and Asia. The effects of tropical deforestation are complex, interrelated and far reaching.” Impacts range from species extinctions to global climate change (Reeder). Clearing tropical forests causes loss of habitat for many species, which then results in extinction. “The current extinction rate is 1,000 to 10,000 times greater than the normal rate” (Reeder). The disappearance of species raises many ethical questions; one being, do we have a duty to leave ecosystems intact for future generations? Extinction of species also represents a loss of “genetic diversity” because with more species essentially dying out, there leaves no room to procreate (Reeder). In addition, the loss of genetic diversity will make it harder for organisms to adapt to changing conditions. Natural cures for diseases and useful plant and animal products may also be lost due to deforestation (Reeder). Little things that we tend to take advantage of can be taken away from us because of cutting down trees, yet many do not pay attention to the consequences of it. Global climate change results from deforestation in addition to species extinction. Trees can be described as “carbon sinks,” meaning that they store carbon by removing carbon dioxide- a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere- and storing it in their tissues (Reeder). A study in Ecuador showed that an acre of a growing forest absorbs 75 tons of carbon over 20 years! Therefore, when trees are lost, their function of removing carbon from the air is lost as well (Reeder). If trees and other vegetation are burned due to wildfires, carbon will again be released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. That is why deforestation is considered to be a big contributor to climate change, because it also aggravates air quality. Not only can deforestation cause global change, it can also cause climate change locally. For example, removal of large trees reduces shade. With the loss of cover there will be more daytime heat and a reduced ability of the forest to hold heat at night (Edwards). In other words, the result is extreme high temperatures. NASA satellite also indicates “deforestation changes patterns of air circulation and rainfall”; increasing rainfall in deforested areas, such as Brazil (Edwards). Such changing conditions of shade, “increases stress to rainforest species and organisms” due to the overwhelming amount of rain and extreme temperatures (Edwards). Something else to keep in mind is that deforestation damages the soil. Tropical rainforests hold most of the their nutrients in living vegetation and decomposing plant and animal remains (Ronca). When forests are cleared and burned, most of their nutrients are lost, largely to the atmosphere. Exposed soil not only loses vital organic matter but it becomes a subject of erosion (Ronca). Soil erosion reduces soil fertility and causes “silt and excess nutrients to enter lakes and streams,” impairing local water quality (Ronca). Supporters for deforestation list the many reasons why we should continue cutting down trees. We should remember that we use trees for wood to build houses, books, furniture, and money. Supporters make the argument that if we stop using trees for these essentials then houses will become more expensive because we’ll have to find alternatives such as, “glass, metals, concrete, or other expensive material” in order to build houses (Debate). Another argument is that the furniture industry will decline and eventually die out because wood is what is needed to build furniture, and without wood, we would have to use furniture made out of stone, metal, or plastic (Debate). The book industry would also suffer because we need trees to make paper, and without paper, books would not be made. Deforestation can be seen as something that provides the public with wealth because it provides many with jobs in addition to things we need. On the other side of the argument, those who oppose deforestation respond to the supporter’s arguments by saying,
“We get it, we need wood and we need people and we need fuel. We need to build things like tables, etc. But we need to tone it down. Trees are good for the environment and we tend to think about that last. Instead we’d rather have things. Trees give us what’s important; like oxygen and we tend to overlook that part” (Debate). It would be best to try and find alternative materials to make things like paper or fuel from, replant more trees for each one that needs to be cut down, and just keep it in moderation if we cannot avoid cutting them down. Another idea from a critic was that there should be trees re-planted for every tree cut down (Debate). That way we can still regain what we lost and perhaps, be less damaging on the Earth’s ecosystem. Greenpeace offers a couple solutions that could possibly decrease deforestation from happening. One of the solutions mentioned, comes from corporations and markets. “If corporations have the ability to destroy the world’s intact forests, they also have the power to save them” (Greenpeace). Companies can make an impact by introducing “zero- deforestation” policies that require suppliers to produce other commodities such as, “timber, beef, soy, palm oil, and paper fiber” in a way that has minimal impact on natural forests and the climate (Greenpeace). Another potential solution starts with us, the consumers. As a consumer, you have the power to put pressure on companies that have terrible environmental practices. By buying recycle or certified wood products, only supporting brands with zero deforestation policies, and getting others to do the same, you send a message to companies to embrace zero deforestation policies. Greenpeace describes this possible solution to be the most important step in order to stop deforestation. One final solution would be “ambitious and science- based domestic and international forests policies” from our government. We use U.S laws like the Wilderness Act and Lacey Act to protect U.S forests and stop illegal wood products from entering the U.S marketplace, however, the international community must also urgently commit to mechanisms that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation in tropical forest developing nations (Greenpeace). From temperate forests to tropical rainforests, deforestation continues to be an urgent environmental issue that jeopardizes people’s livelihoods, threatens species, and intensifies global warming. Deforestation proves to be a case and challenge of environmental public policy because it can affect the lives of not only animals, but also humans. This environmental issue should not be ignored. We must make changes in our daily lives now, in order to have fewer problems in the future. Fewer trees mean fewer benefits to our planet, which results to a lot of trouble in the long run.

References
Becker, Andrea. "Rates of Deforestation & Reforestation in the U.S." Education. Seattle Pi. Demand Media, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 9 Oct. 2014. <http://education.seattlepi.com/rates-deforestation-reforestation-us-3804.html>.

Edwards, Mark. "Deforestation." WWF. Panda. WWF, 1 Jan. 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2014. <http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_forests/deforestation/>.

Reeder, Elizabeth. "Environmental Problems Caused by Deforestation of Tropical Rain Forests." Education. Seattle Pi. Demand Media, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 8 Oct. 2014. <http://education.seattlepi.com/environmental-problems-caused-deforestation tropical-rain-forests-5007.html>.

Ronca, Debra. "How Deforestation Works." Science. How Stuff Works. HowStuffWorks, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 9 Oct. 2014. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green science/deforestation2.htm>.

"Should We Stop Cutting Down Trees?" Debate.org. Debate.org, 1 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. <http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-we-stop-cutting-down-trees>.

"Solutions to Deforestation." Greenpeace.org. Greenpeace, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. <http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/forests/solutions-to deforestation/>.

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