Introduction
Environmental Effects
Many have wondered what will happen when all of the tress in the world are gone. At the rate of deforestation generations soon to come will suffer the consequences of not having any trees due to deforestation today. Throughout this paper many details will be made evident as to who and what is effected by deforestation such as indigenous people as well as environment effects and climate change and what kind of damage is done to many different ecosystems and our planet as a whole but also what we can to do solve these issues. When digging into the controversial topic of deforestation one will find that the consequences are far more destructive both presently and in the future. There are numerous things that deforestation can cause; loss of habitat as well as other environmental effects such as increased greenhouse gases and soil erosion, climate change containing global warming and the weakening of the ozone layer and also effects on indigenous people and their homelands. These are just a few examples of what deforestation can lead to and why it should be stopped.
The most effected characteristic of our plant that has been affected by deforestation is the environment as a whole. The environment is effected in many ways by deforestation. Due to trees being a large portion of how the worlds oxygen is produced and CO2 is gotten rid of, a significant amount of CO2 builds up in the atmosphere due to having no trees to absorb it. The book “Earth’s Vanishing Forests” offers a different aspect about the damages and causes of deforestation and how it can effect an environment. It lists numerous effects that an ecosystem can encounter such as emissions of CO2 building up thus causing global climate change. It describes just how much deforestation is actually and also referring to multiple other sources to justify its reasoning so that anyone who reads this book may have their eyes opened to what takes place around the world as deforestation happens. With overages of CO2 there come massive amounts of smog in heavily populated areas. This can cause serious health issues for the citizens of wherever they may be living (Gallant 8).
There is more to deforestation than just air pollution and how it effects the environment. Deforestation can also affect the water cycle in certain areas. When cutting down trees the ability to absorb water from the air and also put it back into the air is jeopardized. This can cause major problems because some ecosystems are accustomed to having a wet environment like the Amazon Rainforest. The cutting down of extensive amounts of acres of trees in the rainforest has affected the humidity level and climate level of the overall area. When doing this it can cause some places to flood where they never have and also have droughts due to the absence of trees affecting the water cycle (Laurance).
Trees do not only have to do with the atmosphere but also what they do with their root system as well. Trees play a large role in the carbo-cycle of the earth not only in the air but also in the ground. Trees effect how fertile topsoil of a certain region. This can affect how frequently and how efficiently plants can grow not only for overall vegetation but also crops for the indigenous people of a certain area. Trees use their leaves to absorb carbon dioxide in the air and transform it into oxygen which is put back into the atmosphere. Trees also use their roots to take in nutrients that are in the soil like carbon dioxide and other elements that can play a major role in the development of the quality of the soil around them. This can cause a buildup of elements that are crucial to have removed from the soil in order to keep the cycle moving and with the absence of trees this cannot be achieved (Freedman).
Impact on Indigenous People
Deforestation is a very broad topic that affects everything that inhabits our plant. Many indigenous people rely solely on subsistence living and have a very difficult time in doing so because trees in their area help to bring all the factors of living together. Logging companies are the largest portion of deforestation. Logging companies come into to homelands of inhabitants and destroy the natural flow of the environment causing the overall lifestyle of people and disrupting how they go about living there. These companies do this illegally more times than not without compensation. As explained before trees have a large impact on the quality of the soil in certain regions. This can place a large role in how fertile topsoil can be thus effecting how the indigenous people of that region farm their crops. With living there normally comes a source of meat. Usually livestock live with farmers who use subsistence living. Most all livestock eat plants. With no plants being able to grow due to infertile soil livestock have a hard time finding food to eat and die from starvation. Due to changes in the fertility in topsoil some plants that once thrived there now die and some plants that barely got by now thrive causing a drastic change in an ecosystem not only effecting plants themselves but also animals that feed on those plants will have to adapt and those that die cannot be fed upon by predators thus causing a disruption in a food chain this can be a large problem that has the potential to be unchangeable.
Solutions to Deforestation
Deforestation is a complex and multifaceted issue that does not have silver bullet solution. One of the reasons why this problem cannot be resolved at once is the multiple factors that cause deforestation in the first place. There is a huge demand for the products made of wood as well as the goods that require deforestation, like soy, palm oil, or timber. Therefore, it is expected that one of the resolutions will be the pressure on the large multinationals responsible for the production of these goods. The companies can minimize the utilization of the wood and decrease the supply of the products made of wood. The large corporations have to be pressured through the regulatory policies and international interference in order to make this solution more productive. Although there are certain drawbacks in this matter, like the local legislation that ha to match international framework regarding the environmental policies. The entire situation is complicated with the fact that the majority of forests that are prone to destruction are located in the most economically and socially disadvantaged areas. In such places environmental legislation is quite inadequate; also, the level of corruption is very high, which altogether creates a huge obstacle for resolving deforestation.
Another possible solution is the promotion of sustainable options for the consumers. For instance, it is possible to promote recycled packaging of the products by introduction bonuses for the customers. However, a radical change can be made only on the official level by changing the policies that target deforestation and environmental protection in general. The politics addressing this problem has to be altered both in local and international level through effective collaborations and initiatives. It is believed that the resolution of deforestation will have a tremendous positive impact on the people’s health, environment, and climate change. When digging into the controversial topic of deforestation it is possible to see that the consequences are far more destructive for the modern time as well as the future. There are numerous things that deforestation can cause, namely, loss of habitat, climate change, and lack of absorption of greenhouse gases leading to smog in heavily populated areas. These are just a few examples of what deforestation can lead to and why it should be stopped.
Discussion
Environment
It is a well-known fact that deforestation affects environment negatively. This phenomenon leads to serious damages of air, water, and soil all round the world. It is a mistake to think that the deforestation influences the environment only in the place where it is actually happening. The primary negative impact of deforestation is the increase of greenhouse gases. As the trees are taking out CO2 from the atmosphere, their destruction leads to its agglomeration in the atmosphere. Also, deforestation is usually takes place in Amazon for the purposes of cattle grazing, which is infamous for increasing methane emissions. According to the researchers, deforestation contributed to 30% of global greenhouse emissions annually competing with the effect of transportation field (Johnson). It was also emphasized that the correlation of loss and growth of forests still remains negative, even though this indicator has decreased in the last several years (Johnson). There are numerous reports that due to the new environmental laws that restrict deforestation, there were illegal practices in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN 12). Consequently, the real impact of deforestation on atmosphere is not known due to the multiple attempts to destroy the forests by evading the law.
Despite the atmosphere, deforestation affects the water cycle. It is not customary to think, but the trees actually store a great quantity of water, especially in the rainforests. A Therefore, their felling causes the loss of water. Also, trees extract the underground water and release it into the atmosphere taking part in the water cycle. The loss of forests leads to drier climate, which can further trigger more complex problems in the environment. In the mountain areas, deforestation may cause serious floods due to the ability of trees to hold massive amounts of water in the period of flood risk. It was estimated that tropical rainforests generate around 30% of the fresh water, where their destruction leads to decrease of their amount (Sahin and Hall 294). The prolong effect of deforestation is floods and droughts in the unusual areas, which is caused by the imbalance of water cycle. One of the main problems here is a false belief that everything is interrelated in the environment. For instance, deforestation in the East can cause deterioration of water cycle in the West. Everything in nature is connected, which is the main issue of the environmental problems around the world.
As it was mentioned earlier, deforestation has adverse impact on soil. Specifically, deforestation causes soil erosion, which is especially evident in the tropic areas. As the trees anchors the soil with their roots, their felling leads to erosion. Consequently, the yields of crops in the areas are declining making people to utilize foreign fertilizers that affect negatively the quality of soil and crops. For instance, due to deforestation in Costa Rica, the region lose around 860 million tons of soil every year; and Madagascar lost 400 tons/ha soil in cause of erosion, which made the rivers in this region to run blood-red affecting Indian Ocean in the result (Butler). Overall, deforestation leads to the nutrient-deficiency of the topsoil and impossibility to plant the trees or other crops in these areas. Heavy rains that are usual in the rainforests erode soil and lead to the disruption of the food chain in this region. Erosions can even alter the course of rivers, which had happened in China and caused the deficit of silt deposits (Chakravarty et al. 2012). Another adverse effect of deforestation is desertification because the loss of the large amount of trees and plants. This phenomenon shifts the green rainforest areas into the arid deserts.
People and Animals
Everything in the environment is interconnected and people, as the members of ecosystem, are influenced by the changes in the environment as well. It is essential for the persons responsible to realize that deforestation has impact on them and their children as well. While the major focus today is on the indigenous population within the regions of the primary deforestation, the health deterioration is evident for all inhabitants worldwide. Primary drawback of deforestation for humans is the loss of the topsoil for farming purposes. As it was mentioned earlier, erosion and loss of water leads to the deterioration of the soil’s quality and the ability to produce crops. The situation is especially critical for the less-industrialized regions where agriculture plays prominent part in the economy. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, around 2.5 billion people depend on the agricultural sector and, thus, deforestation influences on their ability to survive (). However, due to erosions and utilization of fertilizers, the soil and absence of trees aggregate the amounts of dangerous chemicals that affect the health of indigenous people.
Deforestation and inability to restore the amount of trees will eventually lead to the disappearance of tree-based products, as spices, bark, crayons, fiber, oils, toilet paper, syrups, berries, fruits, luggage, and many others. While there are partial solutions to this problem, like recycling, a lot of products are still produced on the basis of wood. Moreover, it is considered that goods made of tree-based materials are eco-friendly, which is only partially correct. These products are more eco-friendly than plastic, but they still contribute to deforestation. At the same time, the ecologists estimate that until there is a huge demand for the tree-based products, the supply will not stop. Therefore, deforestation will not be ceased. Some of the products are essential, like toilet paper; the others can use recycled paper, like disposable coffee cups. Additionally, the technological development proposed to eliminate the printed production by putting the information into the electronic devices or virtual space.
Another adverse effect of deforestation in humans is diseases that are caused by the deterioration of air quality. High amounts of carbon dioxide in the air cause the changes in pulmonary function, metabolism, and neurologic system. Hypercarnia and its chronic form canbe developed as the result to exposure to air with high level of CO2; asphyxiation and nerve damage are the other negative health outcomes (Afzal 5). Moreover, deforestation causes the spread of infectious diseases in the areas where they have never been noticed before. For instance, in the 1990s a deadly disease was recorded in Malaysia. Due to massive deforestation in the region, the natural habitat of fruit bats was destroyed that made them to move to the populated areas (Kahn). In the result around 100 lives were lost together with the financial resources generated by the pig-farming industry (Kahn). Also, it was reported that numerous infectious diseases are associated with deforestation, like dengue, yellow fever, and Lyme disease (Kahn). Such devastating consequences of the deforestation lead to the serious socio-economic changes, when indigenous people cannot afford basic needs of food, water, and shelter.
It was admitted earlier that deforestation leads to the losses of valuable areas where the inhabitants could have breed livestock. Due to the spread of diseases and high concentration of dangerous chemicals in the topsoil, animals are prone to various sicknesses that result in the inability to live in certain areas. As the deforestation is intensifying, the areas available for living are decreasing every year. This is one of the factors contributing to poverty in the developing areas. Migration of wild animals causes their eventual extinction. It is impossible for many animals to adapt to the unusual conditions and find food in the regions distinctive from their natural habitat. Few examples of possible animal extinction due to deforestation are rhinoceros, mountain gorilla, Bornean orangutan, giant panda, and tiger (Connor). Overall, there are millions of species whose existence is threatened by the global deforestation. A lot of them are already lost due to deforestation. An important issue to consider here is the interrelation of species in the ecosystem, as the loss of one plant or animal that serves as food for another animal will cause to extinction of both.
Climate Change
After the evaluation of the effect of deforestation on the planet, it became clear that this phenomenon has a tremendous impact on the climate change. A lot of people have already noticed the alterations in the humidity, air temperature, and the occurrence of natural disasters in the areas that are not prone to such problems. The main cause of climate change is the increase of carbon dioxide in the air that contributed to global warming. In its turn, global warming causes the rising of water level and loss of habitat of the arctic animals due to melting of ice in polar regions. Therefore, coastal cities and low-lying countries may disappear from planet Earth if the process of global warming will be progressing at the same speed. Furthermore, it is estimated that melting of permafrost will affect the release of disproportionate amount of methane gas into the atmosphere, which will intensify the process of global warming (West 1082).
The effect of this phenomenon leads to the development of the ozone holes, which affects the health of all inhabitants. It is a well-known fact that direct sun rays are dangerous and even deadly for the ecosystem and especially for humans. Various types of cancer are the result of the ozone holes and intensification of the sun exposure effect (Patz et al. 1092). Weather patterns are affected by the climate change caused by deforestation. For instance, global warming is considered to be the reason of extreme weather and natural disasters, like hurricanes, heat waves, wildfires, droughts, floods, and unusual winter weather. According to National Wildlife Federation, global warming has special effect on winter weather, claiming that “winter is becoming milder and shorter on average; spring arrives 10 to 14 days earlier than it did just 20 years ago” (NWF 1). It was also revealed that global warming is the main factor responsible for hurricanes due to the higher wind speed and higher storm surge brought by the tropical storms (NWF).
At the same time, there is a misunderstanding circulating in the media that claims the weather has to be warmer if the global warming is a problem. However, this conception is not correct, as this phenomenon affect different areas distinctively by decreasing temperature in one place and brining extreme snowfalls to other regions. The main issue that has to be realized by the public and the persons responsible for the deforestation is the interconnection between all components in the environment. The adverse effect of deforestation is evident, even if there are a lot of programs aiming to restore the forests. Deforestation has already contributed to the global warming and the process is not reversible, which demands immediate reaction from all people, despite the location and socio-economic status.
Conclusion
The aftermath of constant exploitation of natural resources is already evident. Deforestation together with the deprivation of other valuable resources has caused the deterioration of air, water, and soil, which affected human health, animal habitat, and climate. While in the past, tree-based materials and products were essential, today there are duplicates and solutions to decrease this process in order to restore the quantity of trees and plants on the planet. Deforestation is an undermined issue that can cause serious long- and short-term effects. Spread of infectious and deadly diseases, loss of drinking water, natural disasters, and deprivation of the developing population are altogether create a complex dilemma that cannot be resolved in a moment. Without the help from the government and people, it cannot be stopped and the consequences will be more severe.
It became clear that deforestation cannot be stopped in a year and it is difficult to imagine that it will ever stop, unless all trees are destroyed. There is lack of understanding of the seriousness of the problem in terms of financial and economic fields. While a lot of multinationals reap profits, local people are suffering from adverse consequences of changed climate and inability to survive in deserted and erosive areas. The economic losses are usually experienced by the regions where the deforestation is conducted. However, the health issues may be felt by the inhabitants of the well-developed nations as well. While not a lot of people connect the increase of cancer incidence and deforestation, this practice will going to continue both legally and illegally.
The solutions to the problem of deforestation are multiple, while the only requirement is the collaboration between governments and people. Legislative, environmental as well as economic policies have to be adapted in order to decrease the utilization of tree-based products, introduce sustainable solutions, and increase the awareness of people all around the world in the problem of deforestation and the outcomes connected to this process. It is possible to enhance the taxation of the tree-based products, introduce harsher measures for exploitation of the natural resources, and foster the development of the technologies that may decrease the need of deforestation.
Overall, the main responsibility has to be put on multinational corporations, governments, and local officials for designing the solutions of deforestation and its implications. The governments have to increase crediting for the reduction in tropical deforestation and discouragement of the large companies in this process. In general, it is possible to claim that the problem has to be solved both locally and internationally, because the rapid globalization contributes to the access of the large companies to the forests in tropics and regions with the developing economies.
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