Killing of Trees
Giselle Torres / Period 8th
What is deforestation?
Deforestation is the continuous demolishing of forests in exchange for land which turns into a non-forest use. Humans tend to burn trees and to cut down trees all at once which is called clear cutting. By burning trees, the ashes of the trees provide nutrients for the plants, but then when the soil becomes less nourishing, farmers will move on and find a new chunk of land and start the process all over again till they are satisfied.
Example 1 of Deforestaion
A huge patch of trees is removed from the forest
Example 2 of Deforestation
Animals are left without a home
Example 3 of Deforestation
Trees cut down and left in ruins
Causes of the Problem
Humans cut trees for the following reasons:
- Fuel
- To make more land for housing and industries
- To harvest timber
- To create ingredients that are highly prized consumer items
- To create room for cattle ranching
Impact On the Ecosystem
Trees help taken in most of the carbon in our atmosphere and when humans cut down those trees, well all the carbon that, the trees had stored, gets back into atmosphere and causes even more carbon in the air than before and majorly impacts the global carbon cycle. In addition, trees help block sunlight for other species, and when you remove the trees, those species will be impacted negatively among the ecosystem because the species have not been exposed to those types of temperatures and will result in loss of species. Lastly, soil is the main source of vegetation in an ecosystem and when deforestation takes place, soil erosion occurs and after a rainfall lots of nutrients and soil is lost and run into rivers and streams. Some other impacts would be reduction in biodiversity and climate changes and interruption of the water cycle.
Solutions
Solutions to this is problem humans have caused are the following:
- Anti-deforestation policies
- Encourage people to recycle
- Use recycled material
- Use renewable energy
- Move towards a paperless society
- Plant more trees to match the same numbers as humans cut down
- Make healthy choices when it comes to eating
- Educate others to stand up for deforestation and to make a change
Challenges
Challenges we my face is that people are lazy and do not find it convenient. Some people do not see this as a need to change so, they tend to ignore the situation. Also people find it easier to through away paper and other items in the garbage instead of finding a recycling bin because they find it more convenient to through it away right then and there. Lastly, people who support deforestation are just looking at the money they will be receiving not the effect of what deforestation is causing to the ecosystems and the world in the long run. It costs lots of money to help the environment be clean and most people do not have that type of money just to spend on that.
CNN Explains: Deforestation
Video
CNN briefly explains what is deforestation, how they clear the trees, causes, use for the land, and environmental impacts. Also explains how species lose their homes due to deforestation and usually results in species going extinct.