Negative Impacts Of Deforestation On The Environment

[Jkobe Peoples]

Soilerosion has devastating effects on the environment, including the loss of fertile land and crops. Areas with high soil erosion are also more vulnerable to flooding, mudslides, dust storms, and water pollution. Erosion usually occurs when soil is exposed to moving water, hard rain, and strong winds. With their roots, fallen leaves, and branches, forests shield the topsoil from these harmful elements. When trees are cut down, the soil is left exposed. Soil erosion can also worsen climate change because soil holds high volumes of carbon dioxide. When soil is degraded through deforestation, the carbon is released into the atmosphere. The ocean holds significantly more carbon, but with proper land and forest management, healthy soil is a vital tool in the fight against climate change.

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Deforestation is the clearing, destroying, or otherwise removal of trees through deliberate, natural, or accidental means. It can occur in any area densely populated by trees and other plant life, but the majority of it is currently happening in the Amazon rainforest.

The loss of trees and other vegetation can cause climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for Indigenous people.

Deforestation occurs for a number of reasons. The most common reason is agriculture, with 80% of deforestation resulting from extensive cattle ranching, and logging for materials and development. It has been happening for thousands of years, arguably since people began converting from hunter/gatherer to agricultural based societies, and required larger, unobstructed tracks of land to accommodate cattle, crops, and housing. However, after the onset of the modern era, it became an epidemic.

One of the most dangerous and unsettling effects of deforestation is the loss of animal and plant species due to their loss of habitat. 70% of land animals and plant species live in forests. Not only does deforestation threaten species known to us, but also those unknown.

The trees of the rainforest that provide shelter for some species also provide the canopy that regulates the temperature. Deforestation results in a more drastic temperature variation from day to night, much like a desert, which could prove fatal for many inhabitants.

In addition to the loss of habitat, the lack of trees also allows a greater amount of greenhouse gases to be released into the atmosphere. Healthy forests absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, acting as valuable carbon sinks. Deforested areas lose that ability and release more carbon.

One of the most important forests for regulating water cycles across the planet is the Amazon rainforest. Its millions of trees work together to release moisture into the air, creating atmospheric "rivers" that regulate Earth's weather patterns.

Without forests, the soil erodes and washes away, causing farmers to move on and perpetuate the cycle. The barren land which is left behind in the wake of these unsustainable agricultural practices is then more susceptible to flooding, specifically in coastal regions.

As large amounts of forests are cleared away, allowing exposed land to deteriorate and the habitats of innumerable species to be destroyed, the Indigenous communities who live there and depend on the forest to sustain their way of life are also under threat.

The loss of forests has an immediate and direct effect on their lifestyle. Many Indigenous communities depend on what the forest has to offer for food, medicine, building materials, and cultural resources. Because many of these communities are located in remote areas in dense forests, the loss of these resources poses many challenges to their health and wellbeing.

Often, frontline communities have little say in how their local environment is altered by governments and corporations. At the same time, these communities face the most immediate and threatening impacts of environmental degradation and climate change.

The governments of nations with rainforests within their borders often attempt to evict Indigenous tribes before the deforestation begins. This undermines the sovereignty of these Indigenous groups, especially when governments fail to seek their consultation and consent before starting any projects.

In addition to their role as carbon sinks, forests are a crucial component of the water cycle and have the all important function of preventing desertification. Cutting down trees can disrupt the cycle by decreasing precipitation and affecting river flow and water volume. In the case of the Amazon rainforest, research shows that at least 80% of its trees would be needed in order to keep the hydrological cycle going. With nearly 17% of the forest lost already, the Amazon is currently at its tipping point. Statistics show that deforestation in the tropics reduces precipitation over the Amazon by around 10%, or 138 millimeter, every year. In the South Asian Monsoon region, the reduction in rainfall is even higher, with around 18% less rain recorded in India in a single year.

Along with Indigenous tribes, animals are some of the biggest victims of deforestation. Forests around the world are home to more than 80% of all terrestrial animal, plant, and insect species. However, the rapid destruction of forests is contributing to a decline in biodiversity never seen before. The main effect of deforestation on animals and plants is the loss of their habitat. Many factors related to cutting down trees contribute to driving species to extinction. Through land erosion, the soil is depleted of its nutrients, a huge source of nourishment for animals and plants. Furthermore, many animal species are heavily reliant on specific plants and their fruits for food sources. When these resources are lost, animals become weaker, more vulnerable to diseases and often succumb to starvation. Another important role of trees is to regulate the temperature of forests and maintain it constant. When deforestation occurs, temperature variates more drastically from day to night and this extreme change can often prove fatal for many animal species.

One last major effect of deforestation is its impact on food security through the loss of biodiversity. While food availability for Indigenous tribes and animals that live in forests is reduced in the process of deforestation, its effects on weather patterns and soil degradation also drastically decrease agricultural productivity. Populations located in the proximity of tropical forests are mostly impacted by the worsening trend. Indeed, millions of people living in these areas depend almost entirely on agriculture and are thus extremely vulnerable to the impact of deforestation on food security, struggling to grow enough food and prevent crops from damage. It has been shown that the deforestation of the Amazon contributes to a decline in pasture productivity of about 39% as well as a drop of soy yields of nearly 25% in over half of the Amazon region and of a staggering 60% in a third of the area.

Knowing how deforestation affect the environment more than one way and its catastrophic effects on the planet, it is crucial that people around the world take action to mitigate its impact. This can be done on an individual level, for example by reducing meat consumption, going paperless and recycling products as much as possible, opting for natural products that do not contain ingredients such as palm oil and supporting organisations and sustainable companies that are committed to reducing this dangerous practice. On a governmental level, the consequences of deforestation can be mitigated by introducing policies that protect natural forests and regulate mining and logging operations as well as other operations that require the destruction of tree plantations.

Amazonia - The area around the River Amazon in South America, principally in Brazil, but also extending into Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia. The region comprises approximately one third of the world's remaining tropical rainforest.2

Amazonia Legal (Legal Amazon) - An area of 5.2 million km, constituting all of the Brazilian Amazon. The Brazilian government created the Amazonia Legal designation in 1953 as a way to plan and promote the social and economic development of states in the Amazon region, which historically share the same economic, political, and social challenges.3

Land Surface Albedo - The ratio of the solar radiation reflected from Earth's surface to the solar radiation incident upon it, which is critical to the regulation of Earth's surface energy budget. In essence, land surface albedo is a measurement of the "whiteness" or reflectivity of the surface of the land.

Slash-and-burn - Relating to or denoting a method of agriculture in which existing vegetation is cut down and burned off before new seeds are sown, typically used as a method for clearing forest land for farming,9 also called fire-fallow cultivation.

The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world as well as the largest river basin, spanning 670 million hectares16 across 9 South American countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.17 The Amazon contains more species of plants and animals than anywhere else on the planet, and is believed to be the home of 10% of all species on Earth.18 Of the many plant species in the Amazon, 75% are unique to the Amazon. There are 3,000 different species of fish, which is the largest number of freshwater fish species in the world.19 Additionally, the Amazon rainforest is home to 34 million people who depend on its resources.20

One factor that influences Amazonian deforestation, as well as its other contributing factors, is government involvement. This takes the form of legislation, or lack thereof, that directly protects the forest, but also includes the policies surrounding logging permits, the process of designating protected lands, and the rules around businesses involved in the Amazon rainforest. These policies include penalties, fines, warnings, and seizures of equipment, or lack thereof, when legislation is violated. As the Amazon rainforest includes territory of 9 different countries, multiple governments are involved in its protection. However, the most influential government by far is the Brazilian government as 64% of the Amazon falls within its borders.26 27

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