Deforestation
What is Deforestation?
Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses. About 30% of the earths land area is covered by forest, it is estimated we lose 18 million acres of forest each year to deforestation. This not only destroys the homes of all the organisms living in it, but also the environment as a whole.
What is the Cause?
The simple answer is Mankind and its greed. However, going more into depth a large portion of the trees harvested are not legalized to do so. This occurs for reasons such as; urbanization, which is the process of making an area of land urban. The demand of food leads to more farmland, which further lead to the clearing, or deforestation of an area. Wood can be an affordable option of fuel, however it is mainly used as a source of heat. Increasing population means more building materials. Different woods are also valued more in the furnishing industry, which means depending on the area will determine the amount of deforestation likely to occur. A small amount of deforestation can also occur naturally by large wildfires.
Methods
Depending on the reasons listed above the method of deforestation may differ:
Fire: To clear land quickly, it is common to set controlled fire to the forest followed by cutting the remains.
Slash and Burn Agriculture: A similar method called slash and burn agriculture is used for agricultural purposes. The leftover tree ashes provide nutrients in the ground for the soon to be planted crops.
Clear Cutting:
Is the most common method of deforestation because it is both efficient and cost effective. Clear cutting is when all valued and marketable timber is cut in a certain area. This method is preferred and used mostly by forestry companies because they are able to get a substantial amount of money for the cut timber than what it cost to produce.
Selective Logging: is when a couple or small amount of trees are removed leaving most of the forest still intact, it is seen as a more eco-friendly alternative. Being that trees take a fairly long time to regrow, the couple trees that are cut down every so often will eventually start to show. On another note Studies by science direct have shown that selective logging sites are more sustainable to forest fires.
Different woods and there values: The numbers given are priced 1 inch boards per foot
Alder- $3.95
Maple- $3.60
Ash- $2.80
Hickory- $2.95
Cedar- $2.55
Cherry- $4.95
Birch- $4.10
Red Oak- $3.10
Walnut-$7.25
Pine- $1.95
Effect on the Environment
A major problem caused by deforestation is the destruction of habitats. While using the methods listed above such as burning, and cutting down trees, many animals are still present in the forest during this time. Even if it doesn’t kill the on the spot, they then must suffer the loss of shelter and resources, as a result many animals die of natural causes without the correct environment. National geographic has found that 80% of earths animal and plant life can be find in forest, many who face the threat of becoming extinct. This also effects people native to the area who depend on the forest just as much as the animals do. The lack of trees also increases greenhouse gases. While trees grow they absorb the CO2 in the air, Trees emit oxygen while they use the energy from sunlight, to make glucose from carbon dioxide and water. According to science focus each person uses about 7–8 trees worth of oxygen over a 24-hour period. This means in order to keep the air healthy we need a lot of trees! Deforestation also has an effect under the ground. The roots of trees create a stable support to dirt and, or sand, removing this trees makes it become loose and may lead to desertification depending on the area in which it occurs.
Where Does All this Wood Go?
Wood is useful in so many different ways, the problem is we are using it more than it is being produced. Wood is a common building material all around the world, with the number of people in the world, and the population increases quicker than it decreases the demand for shelter and resources will increase as well. Wood is also used to make things within homes like furniture, where certain more valued typer of wood come in to play. Paper is also made from wood pulp. Wood is also commonly used in 3rd world countries as a fuel source, contributing to both the issue of deforestation and air pollution in the environment.
What can we do to reduce it?
Unfortunately it is easier said than done, many things in our everyday lives that we rely on are somewhat made of wood. For example the chair and table you eat breakfast at, the #2 pencil you may write with, and of course the paper you are writing on, and don’t forget the home that provides you with shelter is likely made of wood too. However there are a few ways that we as people can factor into the demands leading to deforestation. The first example being through technology, cut back on on printing paper and do everything on computers, on the flip side however the energy for all this technology also comes from somewhere. Another way to help decrease deforestation is to become a vegetarian. Since a big reason of clearing an area of forest is to produce livestock, try cutting meat out of the diet instead of trees. One that I hope we all know of is to recycle! It is good to recycle not just for the sake of the trees but the environment as a whole. Using recycled paper means less demand for new paper from trees.
Conclusion
Trees seem pretty boring from the outside, but I bet we can all admit they play a pretty important role in our everyday life. We as people need to be more grateful of what we have and think of our future generations ahead and what we might be depriving them of. It is not a bad thing to be a tree hugger!
Sources:
Nunez, Christina. “Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet.” Deforestation Facts and Information, 25 Feb. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/.
“What’s Driving Deforestation: Wood Products.” Union of Concerned Scientists, www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/drivers-of-deforestation-2016-wood-products.
“Effects of Deforestation | The Pachamama Alliance.” Pachamama Alliance, www.pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation.
Bradford, Alina. “Deforestation: Facts, Causes & Effects.” LiveScience, Purch, 3 Apr. 2018, www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html.
Wood Types — A-America Wood Furniture.” A, www.a-america.com/wood-types/.
