Sophia Grzywacz

Ms. Yeaton / P3

Pre-AP English 10

16 January 2018

Annotated Bibliography

National Geographic Society .Deforestation.

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

Forests cover about 30% of our planet, they provide such beauty to the Earth. But what is
this term called deforestation? Deforestation is clearing these vast habitats in huge chunks that
cause a significant difference. What would drive people to do this? Agriculture is the culprit and
biggest driver of deforestation. There is a high demand for paper and wood products in this
world, and due to this numberless amounts of trees are cut down each year.There are even
illegal actions take in deforestation when loggers build roads to access more and more remote
forests. Forests are also cut to make space for home dwellers. There are many reasons that these
beautiful parts of nature are cut down but not all of the reasons are intentional. In Fact some is
caused by both human and natural factors. Things such as wildfires prevent the growth of
younger trees.
Deforestation obviously has many negative effects on the environment, the most
dangerous effect is the loss of habitat for millions of species. Many of the species can’t survive
the deforestation with the impact of losing their homes. Another negative about deforestation is
that soil starts to dry out from the lack of tree coverage, and also without the trees, that are a
huge part of the water cycle by releasing water vapor into our atmosphere, we are left with
barren deserts. With fewer forests that also means that there are larger amounts of greenhouse
gases that enter our atmosphere. There are definitely many more negatives than positives to this
term.

Scientific American. Deforestation and Its Extreme Effect on Global Warming.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deforestation-and-global-warming/

Some people may think that cars and any machine that has exhaust would be extremely
harmful to our environment but from cutting down trees(logging), agricultural production(such
as paper), and other economic activities, deforestation actually adds more carbon dioxide to our
atmosphere than the sum total of cars and trucks on the world's roads. During logging trees
release all the carbon they were storing out into the atmosphere. It adds to global warming by
intermixing with greenhouse gases. Being so focused on how much we do to prevent
deforestation, we actually increase fuel efficiency. Many plans have been put in place to reduce
deforestation all over the plane, however it keeps increasing.
Between 2000 and 2009 over 32 million trees were cut down in the tropical
rainforest. The current system rewards those that cause destruction to the forest. We
need to change this and get rid of forest clearing. Billions of tons of carbon have been
dumped into our atmosphere for decades. “Any realistic plan to reduce global warming
pollution sufficiently-and in time- to avoid dangerous consequences must rely in part on
preserving tropical forests,” reports EDF. However the dilemma with this statement is
its hard to convince people to stop cutting down the forest when its worth more dead
than alive. More than half of the worlds animal and plant species population lives in the
Tropical rainforest, and deforestation wipes out biodiversity. People who care for the
forest manage it sustainably, and benefit economically. They use less land which means
less trees are cut down which leads to less deforestation which lands to less CO2 in our
atmosphere which gives us a healthier environment. This is a solution, we just all need
to follow through with this action as individuals.

The New York Times. Deforestation and Drought.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/opinion/sunday/deforestation-and-drought.html

California is currently going through a terrible drought, in fact is it one of the worst
droughts we’ve ever had in history. The reservoirs are so dry that the people of Sao Paulo have
to ration their water. A drought is usually thought of as a natural disaster beyond human control
but many researches were conducted to look further into the situation. From their studies they
found to appreciate the crucial role that deforestation plays in our environment. Many experts
believe that deforestation is increasing and is significantly altering the world’s climate. Large
forest play a big role in generating rainfall. Water starts to transpire into the atmosphere above
the forest and creates a low-pressure system that sucks in the air surrounding it. The drought in
Brazil was thought to be caused by large-scale deforestation. Today we mainly rely on computer
modeling to fully understand all the full effects of deforestation.
A study done at Princeton suggests that deforestation contributes and is the main source
of many of the droughts. “There’s lots of evidence that changing the water cycle in the Amazon
would have global consequences,” Dr. Schimel said. Its impact could potentially accelerate. If
deforestation continues Sao Paulo will most likely end up dry and turn into a drought. Experts in
other climates urge for an immediate halt to deforestation and hope to get the Amazon back to its
full health and stability.

CNN. Where the Trees Are Disappearing. http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/26/opinion/zarin-

deforestation/index.html
 10% of the carbon emissions is due to the loss of all the trees from deforestation. All the
carbon is released into the air after the burning down or cutting down the trees. Most of the
carbon dioxide comes from fossil fuels which has been produced due to the causes of human
activity. Governments have tried to stop deforestation, but they lacked the tools to do
so.Professor Matthew Hansen and his colleagues University of Maryland analyzed
groundbreaking amounts of satellite imagery. Their work allows anyone in the world to see their
beautiful nature are growing and being destroyed. With these new maps online we can try to
better control the deforestation happening in the world around us. Many governments have taken
this into account and consider it and many have joined. Pledges have been made all over the
world and they are growing, we all need to pledge ourselves to act out against mass
deforestation, and together we will conquer it.
60 and more governments signed the pledge, World Wildlife Fund’s, to achieve what is
called “zero net deforestation” by 2020. This is two years away but if we work together we can
accomplish this. Deforestation is a terrible thing happening in our environment. We need to
control the use of deforestation, and use it only when we need it not for our own personal profit.
Just like joining these pledges we will be able to make a big difference all over the world.