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Bella Haley

Mrs. Klimas

English 10 H

15 January 2018

Deforestation

Cesareo, Kerry. World Wildlife. “Deforestation Threats”, World Wildlife, April 21, 2017.

https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation

Kerry’s article includes accurate facts about the issues of deforestation and how

much harm it is really doing to the environment. Not only does it risk about 80% of the

worlds species but it also contributes to climate change, soil erosion, floods, and global

warming. Annually we are losing about 18.7 million acres of forest, which is 27 soccer

fields ever minute. Forests are a carbon sink meaning they soak up carbon dioxide that

would be free in the air contributing to climate change. Destroying these forests causes

15% of all greenhouse gas emissions to be released into the environment resulting in a

climate change. Deforestation isn’t always man-caused but also things such as natural

disasters: fires or even flooding. With all the trees being removed the temperatures begin

to rise and changes in weather and water. Other ways forests are removed are through

agriculture. There is a higher need for food as the human population begins to grow which

is converting forests into farmland or pastureland to either graze cattle, sheep, etc. or

agricultural products like soy and palm oil. Unfortunately, once a forest is taken over by

crops it can never come back, taking the plants and animals that once lived there. Most

importantly people all around the world depend on forests for things such as medicine,
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hunting, and crops. Deforestation causes these people to have to find new resources to

survive.

For years deforestation has been increasing rapidly and overall becoming worse.

The World Wildlife (WWF) is trying to reduce emission from deforestation by developing

carbon stocks called REDD+. The Amazon Region Protected Areas program has created a

system of financed protected areas to reduce CO2 emissions. WWF has worked to support

protected areas such as this in over 100 countries throughout the world. Another way to

rid deforestation is bioenergy. By 2050 WWF hopes that 100% of the energy people use

comes from renewable sources including bioenergy. Through this article Cesareo portrays

deforestation as something that needs to be taken care of soon and in the right way. Some

others view it as being beneficial in ways of agriculture and businesses. As deforestation

grows it causes problems in other environmental issues especially pollution, climate

change, and global warming. Cutting down trees and taking out plants isn’t doing anything

but slowly harming us. It is weakening our environment and making it harder for other

systems to do their jobs. By using one piece of paper instead of two or using a rag instead of

paper towels can help decrease the rate of deforestation. People need forests for shelter,

medications, and fresh water. Ridding all the trees will only rid these people as well which

can only lead to more bad things. One person can help save a tree. It starts with you.

Przybroski, Paul. NASA. “Causes of Deforestation”, Charles Ichoku, July 19, 2006.

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/deforestation_update3.
php

Robbins, Jim. The New York Times. “Deforestation and Drought”, The New York Times, Oct. 9,

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

drought.html

The New York Times came out with an article a few years back really showing how

important it is to end deforestation. In an opinionated tone Jim Robbins, the author wrote

about the effects of deforestation to our environment, especially rainfall. As most people

know when trees are cut down that results in excess carbon dioxide causing the

atmosphere to warm. What a lot of people don’t realize is how much forests contribute to

rain. They absorb more solar energy than grasslands and release water vapor. People have

began to settle in places near forests than tend to get a lot more rainfall than most places.

Believe it or not but trees bring up the water from the ground and arise it into the

atmosphere. Crazy, right? 1,000 liters of water vapor are released in a day from a fully

grown tree. Alone the Amazon contributes 20 billion tons a day. The water vapor released

from the trees result in clouds which contain volatile gas causing rain. “Biotic pumping” is

one way forests move water. As the water is absorbed in the air it creates a low pressure

system that then absorbed the surrounding air, pumping water in from the ocean or nearby

river. Brazil is facing its worst drought and scientists believe its caused by deforestation

and the lack of the biotic pumping system. Ridding the forests also rids the systems that

come with them. Through one tree a bucket of water could be filled for a family or a child’s

clothes could be washed just by the amount of water vapor they produce daily. Think about

that next time a tree is being removed.

In 1907 an experiment was conducted called the “bunny-fence experiment”.

Australian scientists built a 2,000 mile long fence to keep invasive rabbits from coming
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from the wild into farms. On the wild side with natural vegetation it was cloudy but on the

farm field sides were clear. The scientists believe that the darkest colored plants absorb the

heat and release it back into the atmosphere along with the energy and water vapor to

form the clouds.

With all the technology we now have a majority of research is done with computer

modeling. Trees control the climate in more ways than we think, for example: precipitation,

carbon storage, clouds of complex chemical emission and absorption of the sun’s energy.

Recently, the Amazon has gone through large amounts of clearings for uses of agriculture.

Unfortunately, scientists believe it can cause drought all the way in California, Texas, and

New Mexico. Brazil’s Nation Institute for Space research estimates that “if 40% of the

Amazon region is deforested there could be an abrupt large-scale shift to grasslands, which

could substantially alter global weather patterns.” The Earth has marvelous systems that

keep it functioning keeping everyone in it safe. By cutting down trees we are not only

putting the environment and species in danger but also ourselves.

Scheer, Roddy. Scientific American. “Deforestation and It’s Extreme Effect on Global

Warming”.

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