Deforestation and Our Effect on Nature
By Brianna Johnson
Humans. We are the living species of the Homo sapiens and we have dominated the Earth. We are the kings of the jungle and the creators of the fate of our environment. Yet, while we create our lives more affluently and profoundly, we are destroying our home. We destroy our home by polluting the air, throwing trash into the oceans and most importantly clear cutting forests. Clear cutting is the act of uniformly cutting down trees and completely wiping out forests. Clear cutting destroys the habitats of animals and it also affects our lives. This isn't another nature lover’s “state the problem” essay. This is to bring to light our problem and come forth with a solution or it can be persuasion for you to realize how we all can do better helping our planet.
According to the World Wildlife Foundation, forests cover at least 31% of the land on our planet. Forests are essential to our environment and they are beneficial to both humans and animals. They produce oxygen, a vital ingredient to all forms of life. They also provide homes to animals and humans. Most of the world's endangered species live in the forest and more than 1.6 billion people rely on forests for clean water, food, clothing, traditional medicine and shelter. However, these benefits are put in jeopardy by the act of deforestation. Deforestation is the broad umbrella that covers the act of unlawful tree removal. Deforestation can range from igniting wildfires, clear cutting, logging for timber and degradation which is the act of damaging or ruining something. Every year, 46 to 58 thousand square miles of forest are removed. That is about the size of 36 football fields back to back. In the Amazon, more than 17% of the forest has been cut down in the last 50 years. Clear cutting and deforestation not only destroys the benefits of nature for us humans but, it contributes to one of the biggest effects humans have on our planet; Global Warming.
Global Warming is the observed rise in the Earth’s average temperature over the course of centuries. Scientists have observed that the Earth’s temperature has been getting warmer every few centuries. Part of this problem is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Plants, more specifically trees are essential to the environment. They take in the carbon dioxide we breathe during photosynthesis and they hold the carbon in plant tissues. However, plants only go through photosynthesis and the normal respiratory system when they are living and healthy. The disadvantage to cutting down trees is that there are less trees to take in carbon. Clear cutting an entire forest leads to carbon being emitted into the atmosphere. Carbon is released into the atmosphere when wood burns or decays. In deforestated areas or areas with no trees, the area becomes hotter due the lack of trees to protect the ground from the sun’s scorching rays. And while us humans benefit from the space created as an effect of deforestation, we endanger the air that we need to breathe. And for this reason, we need to examine the effect we have on our earth and find solutions to our overwhelming problem.
As inhabitants of our earth, we need to preserve our planet, protect our planet and stop trying to pacify the problem. When awareness of a problem is brought to light, precautions are taken in effort to solve it. Some of the key issues with the act of deforestation are its deadly effects to the environment. Like endangering animals by taking away their homes, and polluting our air. Possible solutions to the problems are pretty clear. The main reasons for deforestation are as followed
Agriculture
Logging
Urbanization
Mining
There are many ways to solve these problems. One is making laws to ban the amount of trees that fall every year. Government officials should create laws banning deforestation and other lodging activity because of its unlawful effects. Another solution is controlling the consumer market by using alternatives to wood and lumber. Without the proper people to speak out against deforestation, the problem will increase. For every person who doesn’t speak out against deforestation, a tree falls. A helpless symbol of imprisonment to our faulty actions. As the great children’s author Dr. Seuss said;
“I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues."
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