How is deforestation affecting the environment and it's inhabitants?
Deforestation is most significantly impacting our atmosphere and the level of greenhouse gases, however it also has an impact on rare species that inhabit these forests and the climate globally.
What's Going On and Why?Deforestation is becoming a growing issue around the world. More than ( ) of the forest's in the world have been destroyed due to deforestation. Over the years, deforestation rates have increased drastically for many reasons including farming, slash and burn agriculture, and illegal logging. Recently, studies have shown that drug trafficking has also increased the deforestation rate. In Honduras, deforestation was accelerating at a very uneven and unprecedented pace. Researchers found this unusual because the parts of the forest that were being cleared were important parts of land- areas that held important cultural or physical meaning to the inhabitants of the land. The drug traffickers are one of the few groups of people who are able to get away with such a crime. They hold the wealth and power to bribe the local natives to clear the land for them and to pay off the local authorities. Drug traffickers clear forests away to provide room for secret landing strips and roads. This process is one of the main reasons for the growing deforestation rates in Central America.
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What's Bad About It?Deforestation brings many dangers to Earth. Regions of forest that are roughly as large as the country of Panama are cleared away every year due to deforestation. At this rate, all of the rain forests worldwide could be lost within the next hundred years. Deforestation threatens many species that inhabit forests, such as pandas, orangoutangs, and the Philippine eagle. This process also affects natives of the rain forests, for they depend on these forests for shelter, food, and agricultural reasons. Deforestation also brings climate change. Trees provide natural cover to the earth that helps to regulate temperature, and when these limbs are cleared away, the ground is exposed. During the day, the natural cover helps protect the wildlife from the heat and rays from the sun, and overnight, the cover maintains the heat beneath it, preventing wildlife from freezing in the dropping temperatures. Deforestation also affects the process of global warming. Trees absorb greenhouse gases, but without as many trees, more of these harmful gases are going into our atmosphere.
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Historical Background
Many people may have the misconception that deforestation doesn't date long back, however this is incorrect. Deforestation has been taking place for centuries in fact. People have used trees to make fire and keep warm for a very long time, and although deforestation has increased significantly since then, this early form of deforestation still effected the environment. Not only have people used trees and wood to create a source of heat and keep warm, but they have used them as shelter and food as well. To protect themselves from the environment and weather, shelters have been made out of plants and trees for a very long time. As well, many plants serve as a source of good food, especially when no other nutrients are available. These reasons being, deforestation has existed for a prolonged period of time, and continues to worsen and become more prevalent.
Many people think that deforestation is a problem that has just started, roughly around the 1950's. Although this problem has become more prominent since then, deforestation is actually a process that has been going on since the first humans walked the earth. Fire has been used since the beginning of time to deliberately clear trees away, probably about a half a million years ago. So, with that being said, deforestation has been a problem since the beginning of time but has just become worse in the past century. People have been cutting down trees for thousands of years. Wood is used for shelter, food, and warmth. When a forest is cleared, the soil that is left behind is rich in nutrients which is very good for growing crops. The ancient tools that were used in the past to clear forests were stone axes, fires, and browsing axes. The introduction or power-saws over the last 50 years have made a major impact on the rate of deforestation in many major rain forests.
Many people think that deforestation is a problem that has just started, roughly around the 1950's. Although this problem has become more prominent since then, deforestation is actually a process that has been going on since the first humans walked the earth. Fire has been used since the beginning of time to deliberately clear trees away, probably about a half a million years ago. So, with that being said, deforestation has been a problem since the beginning of time but has just become worse in the past century. People have been cutting down trees for thousands of years. Wood is used for shelter, food, and warmth. When a forest is cleared, the soil that is left behind is rich in nutrients which is very good for growing crops. The ancient tools that were used in the past to clear forests were stone axes, fires, and browsing axes. The introduction or power-saws over the last 50 years have made a major impact on the rate of deforestation in many major rain forests.