It would be difficult to imagine life without the beauty and richness of forests.
If humankind does not act quickly, however, planet Earth and all living
creatures are in danger of losing forests forever. Deforestation has already
resulted in the loss of over 80 percent of the natural of the world. Currently,
the disappearance of forests worldwide constitutes a global problem affecting the
temperate forests of the Pacific Northwest area of the US and British Columbia, and
more urgently, the tropical forests of Central and South America, Africa, Southeast
Asia, and Australia.
Deforestation occurs for many reasons. In the temperate forests of the US and
Canada, wood is harvested mainly for construction and paper products. In tropical
Rainforests, one of the most common reasons for deforestation is agriculture.
Because the soil in many tropical forests are found in the vegetation (and not the soil), many
Farmers practice an agricultural method known as “slash and burn.” This method
consists of cutting down the trees of an area in the rainforest and burning them to
release their rich nutrients into the soil.
The method is sustainable only if the population density does not exceed four
People per square kilometer of land. When this is the case, each farm has enough
Land to let sections of it lie fallow for ten years or more, which is enough time for
The land to renew itself. In recent years, however, the population density has often reached three
Times the optimum load. This results in land being used more intensively with no chance to recover.
Under these conditions, slash-and-burn farming becomes only a temporary solution. Within two
or three years, the soil becomes depleted, and the farmer must repeat the slash-and- burn
elsewhere, leaving the used land severely depleted.
Deforestation causes changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. For example,
Deforestation in tropical areas disrupts the cycle of rain and evaporation by removing the moist
canopy of foliage that trees provide.
Undisturbed, this canopy helps about one half of the rainfall in a tropical forest. When this water
evaporates, it causes clouds to form and promotes future precipitation. When trees are
cleared away, the canopy is lost, and the cycle is disturbed. With less evaporation, the
Earth’s surface receives more energy from the sun. This can lead to the creation of
deserts, ultimately causing atmospheric temperatures to rise. Moreover, when an area
has been stripped of trees, rainfall and sunlight damage the topsoil, making it difficult
for the forest to grow back.
Deforestation is also partially responsible for rising atmospheric levels of
Carbon dioxide. Forests release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
when trees are cut, especially when they are burned. The current yearly rate of
carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere from deforestation is about 1.6 billion
metric tons. When we consider that the burning of fossil fuels releases approximately
6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, it is clear the burning of these and
Vegetation contributes significantly to carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
These rising levels are a cause for concern because they will be responsible for 15
percent of the increase in global temperatures between 1990 and 2025.
In addition, deforestation causes the extinction of thousands of species of
Wildlife annually. It is estimated that worldwide, 5 to 80 million kinds of animals
and plants makeup the biodiversity of the Earth, but only about 1.5 million have
been studied and named by scientists. Tropical rainforests, which cover about 7
percent of the Earth’s land, are home to over half of these plant and animal species.
If the rainforests disappear, many of these species will become extinct. This means
many species will vanish before we ever discover them.