Deforestation is clearing earths forest on a massive scale, resulting in a damage to the quality of land. Today, forests cover about 30% of the worlds land area, but swaths the size of Panama (29,762 square miles) are lost each and every year. At this rate, it is possible that there will be no rain forest left in 100 years due to deforestation. Forests are cut down for a variety of reasons, but most are related to money or the need to provide for there families. The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers will clear some of the forest so they have more room to plant crops and more room for there livestock. Often many small farmers will clear a few acres to feed their families by cutting down trees and burning them in a process known as “slash and burn” agriculture. Loggers who cut down trees for things such as paper and wood products cut down thousands of trees each year. Loggers, some who are working illegally, also build roads deep into the forest for there machinery, which will lead to further deforestation. The most dramatic impact of deforestation is on the millions of species that live in these forests. Many animals will die because there habitat has been completely destroyed. Deforestation also plays a role in climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without tree canopies the soil will quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the atmosphere. Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can quickly become barren deserts.Citation:
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview.html
It makes sense that a great deal of deforestation is caused by a need for agricultural land, especially considering our growing population. Would you agree that in order to prevent further deforestation, humans would have to curb our population growth and grow food more efficiently?
ReplyDeleteMaya, i agree with you we would need more of a population growth and we would need more food for all those people. But how can we make that happen?
ReplyDeleteThis looks like it will be a major concern for us in the next couple of decades, but what are some of the species of animals it is affecting right now?
ReplyDeleteI believe in order to save what little forest we have we need to grow crops that can be harvested quickly. For example, radishes can be harvested every 25 days, and microgreens, which is a mix of edible plants that are very nutritious, can be harvested every 2-3 weeks.
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Durgan: There are many animals that are being affected the deforestation. The jaguars numbers are decreasing due to habitat loss. The jaguar needs large amounts of space in order to thrive, so as the forests decrease so do the jaguars. River dolphins, that lie in the rivers on the amazon, are being threatened by the construction of dams and pollutants in the rivers.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ehow.com/list_6763875_species-being-affected-deforestation-amazon_.html
Isn't there food being grown naturally in the forests? If those people just harvested that would it be enough food?
ReplyDeleteIts crazy to think that one day there may not be a rainforest. How will this effect animals and ecosystems? Also, are there regulations as to how many trees any person can cut down, or can any person, chop as many trees as they like?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Maya, we need to develop ways to more efficiently grow food. If we could do this then maybe we wouldn't need to cut down forests to make room for agriculture.
ReplyDeleteYou would think people that already have land and crops for agriculture would get cut off at some point, instead of being able to cut down more trees so they can have more land for themselves. I feel like that would help at least a little bit, help save some tree's so that later on in life were not runing out of tree's.
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