Deforestation by Sam Mckinven

Deforestation is the destruction of forested land. It is a major problem all over world. The rate of deforestation is particularly high in the tropics.

 

The causes of deforestation vary from place to place. The most common causes, however, are logging, agriculture and cattle, road construction, mining and hydroelectric power stations.

 

Deforestation has been the cause of many problems facing the world today such as erosions, loss of biodiversity through extinction of plant and animal species, and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforestation accounts for 25%-30%* of all greenhouse gases emitted every year. The soil in local areas to the forests does not have any have any nutrients without trees so becomes infertile which makes it difficult to farm. In some parts the soil will be washed away in the rainy season because the roots of the trees that are no longer there used to anchor the soil in. When trees are burned, the carbon dioxide they store escapes back into the air. Deforestation is high in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

 

Deforestation is decreasing the supply of oxygen on earth. Oxygen is needed for existence of everything and without it every living thing will die. In addition, forests provide homes for many important species. Rainforests have the highest number of different species than anywhere else in the world. The number of species is reducing faster than ever because of deforestation.

 

There is no real way to stop deforestation. However, in some countries the governments have set up departments to maintain the forests and reduce deforestation. This includes planting new trees and trying to stabilise the existing forest area. Governments are also trying to reduce the amount of illegal logging. The government in Brazil are now trying to reduce deforestation by 70% as so much land has been cleared. Most of the deforestation has been caused by illegal clearing. There are things which we can do, including reducing the amount of paper and wood that we use, purchasing second hand furniture, recycling wood, buying recycled paper and buying products that have the FSC (forest steward council) mark on them.