The easiest way to explain the meaning of deforestation is that the trees are purposefully cut down. In the past, forests have been cut down to have more agricultural land. Wood was and is mainly used for fuel, manufacturing, and construction. Cutting down forests has changed a lot of our landscape. Around 2000 years ago, 80% of Western Europe was covered with forest; today, the number is only 34%. In North America, almost half of the forest was cut down in the 1600s and 1870s. Only 20% of China is covered with forest.
The biggest amount of deforestation is occurring in tropical rainforests. It is mainly done to build roads to inaccessible places and to cut down even more rainforests. Deforestation is also happening in tropical areas more often because the soil there isn’t so fertile. Farmers are using a method called slash-and-burn. It means that the trees are burned, and the tree ash is fertilizing the soil to grow more crops. They have to do it every few years. Tropical forests are also cut down to make more room for palm and rubber tree plantations, as well as for soybeans and beef. Due to deforestation, more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Deforestation also threatens the world’s biodiversity. By cutting down the forest, the soil is more susceptible to erosion. Deforestation is also occurring naturally due to forest fires and also because of parasite-caused diseases. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 80% of deforestation is caused by the expansion of agriculture.
The largest amount of rainforests are based in Amazonia, and the deforestation rate is also highest there. The main cause of deforestation is the clearing of forests for commodity crops. In Southeast Asia, deforestation is also driven by commodity production for the global market. However, the main factor there is the establishment of palm oil plantations for vegetable oil. What sets Southeast Asia apart is the presence of significant areas of peat soil, which emit large amounts of CO2 when cleared and drained. On the other hand, the Congo Basin has a lower deforestation rate, primarily due to traditional shifting cultivation practices. This means that the forest has the ability to regenerate and absorb some of the previously released CO2.
Forests are important because they store large amounts of carbon. Trees play a crucial role in reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and store it in their wood. However, when trees are burned, the carbon dioxide is released back into the atmosphere. This leads to an increase in greenhouse gases, which contributes to the acceleration of global warming. Therefore, the presence of fewer trees means less carbon dioxide is being absorbed, resulting in a buildup of this harmful gas in the atmosphere. Other plants and algae also absorb carbon dioxide when they grow. The carbon is stored in the plant’s branches, leaves, trunks, roots, and also in the soil. When deforestation occurs, the carbon dioxide that was stored in the trees is released back into the atmosphere. For example, between 2015 and 2017, global losses of tropical forests contributed around 4.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. The carbon that is caught by the trees is also released back into the atmosphere naturally when the trees die and decay. Therefore, the carbon cycle that is happening between plants and the atmosphere is relatively quick compared to the carbon that is stored underground in the form of fossil fuels.
Carbon dioxide levels are currently the highest in human history. Every year since 2000, the forest have removed around 2 billion metric tons of carbon from atmosphere. Increasingly intensive burning of fossil fuels, combined with deforestation, has led us to a situation where we no longer have forests that can absorb enough carbon dioxide, and therefore more and more carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere. Since 1850, about 30% of total CO2 emissions have come from deforestation. Forests are natural sinks for carbon dioxide, but nowadays the amount of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels is bigger than trees and other plants can absorb.
Forests are also important because more than 250 million people live in forest or savannah areas. Also, 8% of Earth’s animals and plants live in forests. If there is a known place for animals in the forest, they have to move closer to humans, and that leads to zoonotic diseases. Because of deforestation, many of them are endangered and become extinct. For example, orangutans and Sumatran tigers. Forests also help to regulate the temperature differences between day and night. During the day, it blocks most of the sun’s rays and retains heat at night. Trees release moisture to the air and it helps the air around it to cool down. Scientist have found that because of the deforestation, there have been more heat waves in North America and Eurasia. Rainforests also regulate regional and global water cycles, so if there is no forest, there might not be any rain.
In conclusion, deforestation is negatively affecting not only humans but also natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and the climate. Deforestation accounts for about 12% of global greenhouse gases. It is important to know that almost 90% of people who live in extreme poverty depend on forests. Due to climate change, droughts, tropical storms, heat waves, and fires are becoming more severe and frequent.
Sources:
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/deforestation/
https://youmatter.world/en/definition/definitions-what-is-definition-deforestation-causes-effects/
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/tropical-deforestation-and-global-warming
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/deforestation-explainer-causes-effects-climate/
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/deforestation/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/deforestation
https://climate.mit.edu/explainers/forests-and-climate-change
