Deforestation

DEFORESTATION

What is deforestation? Deforestation is the removal trees and other plantation from a designated area for other purposes. This phenomenon is more common comparing to contemporary beliefs. Brazil has the lead in the "Top Ten Highest Deforestation in The World" competition, with a surprisingly high 3,466,000 hectares of forest cut annually.  Worldwide, we are losing 80,000 acres of rain forest daily. What an alarming rate, considering the world's total forest takes up only 31% of the total land area, amounting to 4 billion hectares.




Whether There are 3 top causes of deforestation:

1) Commercial Agriculture: With a growing demands of food from a growing 7 billion population, huge amount of trees are cut down for crops. In Brazil and many Latin American countries, soy beans and other cash crops account for 68% of deforestation.



2) Logging: Apart from a growing demand of agriculture products, industries today need a substantial amount of wood supply for simple, everyday-live products, such as notebook paper or even coal for your fireplace in the winter. It wouldn't be Christmas without a warm fireplace where your family gather around for hot chocolate right? Well, trees are dying for your moment of joy.



3) Urbanization: With the growing population today, cities are in constant need to expand for the construction of condos and apartments buildings. Roads to be build; forests are transformed into mini parks for children to run around nagging for ice cream.


IS IT WORTH IT?

The answer should be "No". Plants are our oxygen factories. They create oxygen which is a basic of human existence. Without it, not one form of wild life would survive, including us. Without trees, green house gases such as CO2 would not be recycled into O2. In other words, deforestation helps worsen global warming.



A direct effect of deforestation is wildlife extinction. In 1962, Rachel Carson moved many environmentalists on the noxious effect of pesticides on wildlife. Now, our "pesticide" is deforestation and it is more severe than what Rachel Carson had faced, since the threats of deforestation are still dormant. When trees are being cut down, organisms that reside in these plants are left without a living habitat. A sudden change in living habitat without generation-and-generation of evolution would mean only one thing for these organisms - EXTINCTION. Our Earth has lost so many species of animals and plants over the last 50 years.

  

SO WHAT ARE POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS CONCERNING DEFORESTATION?

We should deal with the problem at hand directly. Governments must employ a set of laws to reduce the amount of trees that can be cut down. Yes, the bourgeoisie of the illegal wood industry is obviously going to try to keep their illicit business alive. Therefore, any kind of illegal depletion of forest should be banned and punished severely. The governments must commit to protecting our forests in order any kind of effort to be efficient.
Additionally, if any tree is to be cut down, a young tree must be planted in its place. This is the long term solution for deforestation.


BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-deforestation.php
http://knowledge.allianz.com/environment/climate_change/?665/ten-causes-of-deforestation-gallery
Commonapp.org/ca4app#!d/Status
http://www.slideshare.net/coralteach8/causes-of-deforestation