A Planet In Peril

By Michael Cox
Deforestation is the removal of a large numbers of trees along with the loss of animals
that habitat the area. There are many reasons for deforestation which include: clearing land for
agriculture, cattle grazing, mining, and to help combat the growing population. Farmers use the
slash and burn technique, and plant crops or use it as land to graze their cattle. When miners
come through they dont !ust cut down the trees for the mines, but they also cut down trees to
ma"e paths for the truc"s and equipment to get to the mine.
#verpopulation is also a cause of deforestation. The ever so fast growing population has
resulted in people using deforestation to clear land for people to build houses. When people
move from one place to the rainforest, they get people to deforest the land to ma"e room for
them to build houses. $lso, people use the timber of the trees they cut down to build their houses.
The graph above brea"s down the causes of
deforestation in tropical areas.
Deforestation has many methods. The slash
and burn technique and logging are heavily
used. The slash and burn technique includes the
cutting and burning of forests to create fields for
agriculture or pasture for livestoc", or for a
variety of other purposes. Today, this technique is being used by between %&& to '&& million
people worldwide.
(ogging consists of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest,
usually a mill or a lumber yard. There are many different types of logging done. Tree)length
logging is when the trees are cut down then delimbed and topped at the stump. The log is then
transported to the landing, where it is cut into logs and loaded on a truc". Full)tree logging is
when the trees are cut down and transported to the roadside with top and limbs intact. The trees
are then delimbed, topped, and cut into logs at the landing.
The image above shows a
forest that has burned for
agricultural use. * believe this is
wrong because the forests of the
world can be used for so many
important things. +ou as", ,What
can the rainforests of the world be used for-. Well, there are many things that come from the
rainforests that people dont realize. The $mazon /ainforest has been described as the 0(ungs of
our 1lanet0 because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously
recycling carbon dio2ide into o2ygen. 3ore than %& percent of the world o2ygen is produced in
the $mazon /ainforest. 3ore than half of the world4s estimated 5& million species of plants,
animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. #ne)fifth of the world4s fresh water is in the
$mazon 6asin. The graph below brea"s down the causes of deforestation in the $mazon
rainforest.
#ne hectare 7%.89 acres: of
rainforest may contain over 9'& types
of trees and 5,'&& species of higher
plants. $s the rainforest species
disappear, so do many possible cures
for life)threatening diseases.
;urrently, 5%5 prescription drugs sold
worldwide come from plant)derived
sources. These plants may someday hold the cure for cancer or $*D<. *f deforestation continues
at this high rate, we may lose the possible cures to these life)threatening diseases.
The rainforests are also home to many people that are native to these areas. These people
are dying every day because of deforestation. During the drought periods of the forest, logging
can allow severe fires to brea" out. These severe fires sweep through the forest "illing everybody
and everything in its path. The image to the left shows
a tree that has been cut down during the process of
deforestation.
Deforestation also has its effects on the
environment. The rainforests of the world are very
important in the carbon dio2ide e2change process. When the trees are cut down and burned they
release carbon dio2ide and destroy vegetation that has served as a carbon sin". <ome of the
carbon dio2ide may continue to be stored in wood products and cover crops, but a large share of
forest carbon returns to the atmosphere through the direct burning of the trees. $ll of this carbon
in the air causes the climate to change considerably. Furthermore, deforestation is responsible for
some of the global warming that is happening. <ome scientists predict that global warming will
produce a sharp upswing in global temperatures followed by a deep plunge into a glacial period
several thousand years from now. =owever, there are still a lot of un"nowns about the impact of
climate change.
Deforestation also causes soil erosion and flooding which leads to many deaths. The trees
and plants act as a barrier to slow water as it runs off the land. When the soil becomes too
watered down the roots of the trees give way and nothing is there to stop the water which floods
many cities and causes many people to die. $fter all these effects of deforestation listed above,
why do people continue to use deforestation when it !ust harms the environment and the people
around it-
1eople are ta"ing measures
to help control deforestation. There
are new methods being developed
to farm more intensively, such as
high)
yield hybrid crops, greenhouse, autonomous building gardens, and hydroponics. These methods
above are often dependent on chemical inputs to maintain necessary yields. Furthermore, people
are using the technique of reforestation to help combat the high rate of deforestation.
/eforestation is the restoc"ing of e2isting forests and woodlands which have been destroyed,
with native tree stoc". /eforestation can provide both ecosystem and resource benefits such as:
pollution control, dust control and has the potential to become a ma!or carbon sin".
This picture shows a patch of forest in
southern #ntario that has been reforested due to
deforestation. $lthough reforestation is a good
thing, there are drawbac"s. There is always the
ris" that, through a forest fire or insect outbrea",
all the stored carbon could ma"e its way bac" in the atmosphere.
1eople are also creating forest plantations to help combat deforestation. *n recent years, it
is calculated that plantations yielding 5& cubic meters per hectare annually could supply all the
timber required for international trade on ' percent of the world4s e2isting forestland. *n contrast,
natural forests produce about 5)% cubic meters per hectare, therefore ' to 5& times more forest
land would be required to meet demand. These are good measures for helping deforestation, but
it is going to ta"e a lot more from people than !ust these to help fight the high rates of
deforestation.
#verall * believe deforestation is pointless. There are way too many ris"s to consider
when we use deforestation. * believe the governments of the worlds need to put some "ind of law
in that punishes people who do deforestation. The environment is getting worse every day when
we use deforestation. $ll of the carbon that is being released into the atmosphere as a result of
deforestation is depleting the ozone layer of the atmosphere. Deforestation has a huge effect on
global warming. $s a result, climates are becoming more and more unpredictable every day. #ne
day it will be e2tremely hot, and then the ne2t it could be very cold. <o * believe deforestation is
the worst thing we could be doing now because of the ris"s we ta"e when use it. *f we dont stop
deforestation now its !ust going to affect future generations to come even more than it is
affecting us now.