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Logan Coulter

Professor Cassel

ENG 1201-105

20 April, 2019

What is deforestation and how does it affect our planet?

The topic that I am going to be writing about is deforestation. Deforestation is a

major increasing problem in today’s world. Climate change is becoming a very big issue

in todays society and we are just pushing it aside as if it will get better on its own.

Deforestation is a major cause to the increase in temperature on our planet because

forests breathe in carbon dioxide which is a major pollutant to Earth and what is mostly

causing climate change. Tree’s breathe in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen which is

necessary for almost every basic living thing on earth. So why isn’t this a bigger deal to

people? People would rather be rich and watch the world burn for their own economic

and personal gain. In this research essay I will be answering what is deforestation and

how it affects our planet.

Deforestation has increased and only gotten worse over time. When

deforestation first started when people believed this to be a good thing and that we were

just using our resources to improve our overall quality of life. Trees are used for many

different resources, they are used as a source of heat when caught on fire, and they are

also used to make many buildings and homes. Trees have been used in human’s daily

lives for centuries now. People first started getting mad at deforestation because of all

the animals that it killed and took away from their home. A great representation of this
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would be the Disney movie “Bambi” (1942), in this movie there are lots of animals just

living their lives and later on people start clearing the forest which causes panic for all

the animals and they either die or are able to relocate somewhere away from humans.

In the movie they also send a message to viewers that we are the enemy and the scary

creatures to these harmless animals. Historical estimates suggest that 46 percent of the

country was covered by forests prior to European settlement. That percentage has

since fallen to about one-third, where it remains today. Between 1990 and 2016 the

world has lost 502,000 square miles of forest, a total area larger than the entire

continent of South Africa.

The reasons behind deforestation. The main reason for deforestation all started

when our human population rapidly started increasing, by increasing our population it

leads to the necessity of more food. When our population started increasing we began

finding less area to plant crops for food and also for cities and homes too. So we started

cutting down trees to make room for agriculture, buildings, homes, etc. People started

cutting down forests instead of unoccupied land because of the rich soil that trees and

forests create, forests and trees are very healthy for our Earth’s air, soil, and many

organisms on our planet that rely on them for survival. By removing forests for

agriculture this basically guarantees fast and healthy growth of the crops because of

that rich healthy soil. Once a forest is gone to agriculture it never comes back and

neither does all the biodiversity in them. Another reason for deforestation is for soy and

palm oil, these ingredients have been an increasing demand for many people, they are

used in many different things including animal food, lipstick, and biofuels.
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The impacts behind deforestation. Deforestation is very impactful to our Earth’s

health, since trees breathe in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen they are the perfect

air filter for life on Earth. So when humans destroy 18.7 million acres of forests annually,

equivalent to 27 soccer fields every minute, that can have an enormous impact to our

planet. Tropical forests alone hold more than 228 to 247 gigatons of carbon, which is

more than seven times the amount emitted each year by human activities. Out of all the

emissions emitted into the atmosphere, deforestation alone contributes to 15% of all

greenhouse gas emissions. Also, with cutting down all these trees it will only increase

the greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere even more because trees play the biggest

part in solving climate change.

Arguments about deforestation. People have made the argument that the logging

industry creates work for millions of people worldwide. Although yes this is true, it will

benefit the Earth and our humane race as a whole if we stop because we only get one

Earth, once we’ve destroyed it to the point that there’s no coming back then that will be

the end of the world and nothing will matter anymore because we’ll all be dead. Another

argument is that many of the areas that were cleared have been replanted with trees.

This may be true but trees can take more than 20 years to reach full size, that is way

too long to even see any positive change in the climate.

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Works Cited

AHMED, Yusuf Alapata, and Ismaila ALIYU. “Climate Change Induced Challenges on

Deforestation: The Needs to Educe Mitigation Measures in Nigeria.” Annals of

the University of Oradea, Geography Series / Analele Universitatii Din Oradea,

Seria Geografie, vol. 29, no. 2, Dec. 2019, pp. 64–73. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.30892/auog.292107-807.

Lapham, Increase Allen. Report on the disastrous effects of the destruction of forest

trees, now going on so rapidly in the state of Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin

State Hostorical Society of Wisconsin, 1967.

LONDOÑO, ERNESTO, and LETÍCIA CASADO. “In Brazil, Amazon Deforestation Has

Risen Sharply on Bolsonaro’s Watch.” New York Times, vol. 169, no. 58516, 19

Nov. 2019, p. A4. EBSCOhost.

Newman, Emily. Personal Interview. 14 March 2020.

Nunez, Christina. National Geographic. 7 February 2019.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-

warming/deforestation/#close. 15 March 2020.

Prevedello, Jayme A., et al. “Impacts of Forestation and Deforestation on Local

Temperature across the Globe.” PLoS ONE, vol. 14, no. 3, Mar. 2019, pp. 1–18.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0213368.
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Sumatra: Paper Tiger—A Deforestation Crisis. Films Media Group, 2011,

fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=19259&xtid=48987. Accessed 26

Feb. 2020.

The World Wildlife Foundation. Deforestation and forest degregation.

https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation.

Accessed on 14 March 2020.