Imada 1

Nicole Imada

Wing

Pre AP P5

19 January 2018

Deforestation." Environmental Encyclopedia, edited by Deirdre S. Blanchfield, Gale, 2011.

Science in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CV2644150360/SCIC?u=hend78154&xid=35a3d1aa

. Accessed 10 january. 2018.

Deforestation is the entire removal of a forest ecosystem and conversion of the land to another

sort of landscape Human beings cause most deforestation. This is different from clear-cutting,

which involves the complete removal of all standing trees but leaves the soil in a state to

regrow a new forest if seeds are accessible. Humans extinguish forests for many reasons.

American Indians burned forests to convert them to grasslands that supported big game

animals. Early settlers cut and burned forests to convert them to croplands. That is one of the

main causes of deforestation; slash and burn agriculture. European settlement diminished

forest cover in the US. by 30 percent. Tropical regions happen to be where most loss of forest

occurs. Tropical deforestation is majorly caused by the expansion of shifting agriculture and

livestock production whereas in drier regions, the main cause is wood harvesting. In Africa and

Asia, deforestation is still occurring in massive quantities. Deforestation causes forest

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conversion to infrastructure, urban areas, permanent cropland, and commercial fisheries.

Timber harvest, grazing, and fires may not directly result in deforestation however, can damage

forests severely. There are many environmental prices that must be paid at the expense of

deforestation such as species extinction, climate change, erosion, reduced land productivity,

flooding, desertification, and an increased atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Laurance, William F. "Deforestation." World Book Student, World Book, 2018,

www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar753760. Accessed 11 jan. 2018.

Deforestation is the damaging of forests through many different harmful mediums. The main

cause of deforestation is humans. People have harvested timber, create farms, and build homes

and cities for civilizations. People have been destroying forests and chopping down trees for

many, many years. Deforestation has only become very serious since the 1800’s however.

Approximately one half of the world’s native forests have been destroyed. Many forests have

been separated by cities, roads, farms, etc. Many of the world’s countries have lost over 90% of

their forests. High density populations are areas where the most severe deforestations have

occurred. Global warming is also something that deforestation contributes to. The releases of

carbon dioxide every time a tree is killed returns to the atmosphere which is a colossal reason

for global warming. Many people try to restore trees and forests in order to help decrease the

causes of global warming. The most significant cause of deforestation is agriculture. Many large

areas have been cleared in order for farms to appear and cattle ranches. Most native forests in
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the world have been destroyed and replaced by farms. One method of this being slash and burn

agriculture. This entails the cutting and burning of forests for agriculture which help make the

farms healthier and well off. After this, farmers clear a new area for them to slash and burn for

more farms. Another significant cause of deforestation would be logging. Logging is the cutting

down of trees. Usually these regions where logging occurs, they are replanted with a single

species of valuable timber according to many timber manufactures. This causes a higher chance

for disease leading to the loss of more forests and trees.

"Deforestation." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints in

Context,http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/PC3010999217/OVIC?u=hend78154&xid=

bd2ca6f4. Accessed 17 january. 2018.

Deforestation in the early human generations was used as a means for survival. They would

clear trees and forests for farmland and agriculture. Also, they cleared land to build shelters

and structures and roads for travel and exploration. Forests used to cover most of the land on

the Earth but now only covers about 30 percent. Approximately 90 percent of the global

deforestation only affects ten countries. Tropical regions damaged the most by deforestation

than drier climates. More than half the forests on the planet are now gone as a result of

deforestation. The most deforestation took place in the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa

until the late 1900’s. Now tropical locations are having increased rates of deforestation. There

are many dangers which deforestation presents to our planet. All of the rain forests could
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disappear in one hundred years due to deforestation. Deforestation threatens many organisms

which live in the forests. It does not only affect animals and wildlife, but people all over the

Earth which rely on the forests for survival. There are some benefits but there are many more

disadvantages of deforestation. Without deforestation there would not be farms in which

people could grow food and thrive therefore leaving many people unable to provide for their

families and many people would go hungry. Logging on the other hand provides with wood and

paper products. Without wood and paper products, many of our lives would drastically be

changed and negatively affected due to the use of wood and paper products used daily. Finally,

forests provide humans with many resources in which are used in daily products or things such

as medicine which would affect many people and more people would get sick and perhaps even

die.

Environment News Service. "Rainforest Regrowth May Reduce the Loss of Biodiversity in the

Tropics." Biodiversity, edited by Debra A. Miller, Greenhaven Press, 2013. Current

Controversies. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010209276/OVIC?u=hend78154&xid=7f54bb29.

Accessed 19 January 2018. Originally published as "Rainforests Are Regrowing: Will

Displaced Species Return?", 12 Jan. 2009.

It has been predicted that the Earth may lose up to half of all species in our lifetimes. However,

some scientists have come to the conclusion that the rainforest regrowth is not correctly
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factored into the estimation of species loss. This leads to the debate between whether or not

the biodiversity crisis has been understated or overstated. Animals are being hunted for many

different reasons which are causing them to go extinct. The increasing hunt of animals and

habitat loss due to deforestation could result in a very damaging biodiversity collapse. Some

say, “Once the land is abandoned, the regrowth is relatively quick.” They are saying how in

about 20 years at least half of the original growth taken away by deforestation. Many say,

“deforestation is the most profound change underway in tropical rainforests, but land

abandonment is the second most important trend.” Many times, the land is abandoned and

once it is, there is very quick regrowth in that area. Climate change has a colossal impact on

tropical biodiversity but many scientists believe forested areas may never fall to the lowest

predicted levels. They also believe extinction will threaten a smaller proportion of the tropical

forest wildlife than others have predicted. Degraded forests will sustain only a small amount of

existing wildlife and the larger creatures are more at risk with a changed habitat than smaller

wildlife. Deforestation is a harmful thing to the environment but many claims tend to be

overstated and exaggerated.