Amazon Rainforest Deforestation : devastating the environment and hopes.
“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses. An estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest, which is roughly the size of the country of Panama, are lost each year, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
· About half of the world’s tropical forests have been cleared, according to the FAO.
· Forests currently cover about 30 percent of the world’s landmass, according to National Geographic.
· The Earth loses 18.7 million acres of forests per year, which is equal to 27 soccer fields every minute, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
· It is estimated that 15 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation, according to the WWF.
· In 2016, global tree cover loss reached a record of 73.4 million acres (29.7 million hectares), according to the University of Maryland.
Effects of deforestation
Climate change: Deforestation is considered to be one of the contributing factors to global climate change. Deforestation is the second largest anthropogenic (human-caused) source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere(after fossil fuel combustion), ranging between 6 percent and 17 percent, according to a study published in 2009 in Nature.
Loss of species: Seventy percent of the world’s plants and animals live in forests and are losing their habitats to deforestation, according to National Geographic.
Water cycle: Trees are important to the water cycle. They absorb rain fall and produce water vapor that is released into the atmosphere.
Soil erosion: Tree roots anchor the soil. Without trees, the soil is free to wash or blow away, which can lead to vegetation growth problems. The WWF states that scientists estimate that a third of the world’s arable land has been lost to deforestation since 1960.
Life quality: Soil erosion can also lead to silt entering the lakes, streams and other water sources. This can decrease local water quality and contribute to poor health in populations in the area.
Causes of deforestation
There are many causes of deforestation. The WWF& reports that half of the trees illegally removed from forests are used as fuel.
Some other common reasons are:
· To make more land available for housing and urbanization
· To harvest timber to create commercial items such as paper, furniture and homes
· To create ingredients that are highly prized consumer items, such as the oil from palm trees
· To create room for cattle ranching
Common methods of deforestation are burning trees and clear cutting. These tactics leave the land completely barren and are controversial practices.
Why Amazon Deforestation is so important?
The Amazon Rain forest is the largest rain forest on Earth. Covering an area of five and a half million square kilometers, it is composed of a diversity of ecosystems forming the Amazon Basin that drains into the Amazon River.
Although deforestation can occur naturally through events such as droughts that cause many trees to die, human intervention is the most prolific cause.
Rising population levels within the Amazon basin have contributed to an escalation in the deforestation of the rainforest. This is due to urbanisation and an increased demand for timber to be used in building and commercial production of items such as paper, furniture and palm oil.
Local and International Impact
Deforestation has a negative impact on the local environment of the Amazon. As the forest is removed the soil loses its anchor point and it is steadily eroded, most notably during the wet season. This contributes to the instability of the remaining trees and pollution of local waterways. The physical removal of the trees removes the habitats and food sources of many animal and insect species that live there. In turn this causes a reduction in diversity of the remaining species and a disruption in the ecosystem of the rainforest. (Lean and Warrilow 1989, 411–413).
A study was completed which involved simulating the deforestation of the Amazon tropical rain forest, and replacing it with pastural grazing lands. The results showed a climactic variation of a “weakened hydrological cycle, with less precipitation and evaporation and an increase in surface temperature.” (Lean and Warrilow 1989, 411–413).
The importance of the Amazon rain forest in global environmental issues is largely due to its immense size. Terrestrial plants absorb 25% of the atmospheric carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide emissions are a by-product of natural processes and human interventions such as burning fossil fuels. Through a process known as sequestering the plants store carbon in their wood and soil. The massive scale of the Amazon and its sequestering capabilities leads to it being referred to as a carbon sink: able to slow the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and therefore its contribution to global warming. It can only be classified as this if it absorbs more carbon dioxide than it releases.
By 2015 the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide was 400 parts per million, this was an increase from the 290 parts per million level recorded at the turn of the century. (Keenan, Trevor, Colin Prentice, Josep Canadell, Christopher Williams, Han Wang, Michael Raupach and James Collatz 2016.)
Deforestation of the Amazon rain forest increases carbon levels.
The deforestation of the Amazon rain forest not only decreases the quantity of carbon able to be stored, it also causes a dramatic increase in the levels of carbon being released into the atmosphere by the dead trees. According to the Global Forest Resources Assessment, Main Report (2010), worldwide deforestation releases almost one billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere annually. Although measures are beginning to be implemented to reduce the levels of carbon released into the atmosphere, more needs to be done to prevent levels rising “to 600 parts per million-a level the world could reach as early as 2050[m1]” (Daniel Grossman 2016, 635).
Due to the sheer size of the Amazon rain forest, alterations to its local environment can be felt in other parts of the world. David Werth and Roni Avissar (2002) point out that deforestation in the Amazon has a measurable effect. It can cause a reduction in levels of precipitation and evapotranspiration as well as the formation of clouds. This impact could be felt in several areas around the world, that displayed an increase in the length of their dry seasons. Restoration of the tropical rainforest areas of extensive deforestation could be greatly inhibited due to this increase in temperature and dryness. (Shukra, Nobre and Sellers 1990, 1322–1325). Though the numbers are not as high as the ones recorded in the previous decade. Deforestation is the second largest anthropogenic (human-caused) source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Efforts are being made to fight against deforestation at both the national level in several countries and at the global level. Brazil, for example, rolled out ambitious and enforceable legislation in 2004 to preserve the Amazon forest. Brazil and Indonesia, which together had the highest net loss of forest cover in the 1990s, have significantly reduced the rate of shrinkage, according to (REDD) and REDD+, the United Nations project: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.
Amazon rain forest plays a crucial role in keeping carbon out of our atmosphere, as it naturally absorbs about 28% of the atmospheric carbon emitted by the burning of fossil fuels elsewhere
According to Michael Daley, associate professor of environmental science at Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts, the №1 problem caused by deforestation is the impact on the global carbon cycle. Gas molecules that absorb thermal infrared radiation are called greenhouse gases. If greenhouse gases are in large enough quantity, they can force climate change, according to Daley. While oxygen (O2) is the second most abundant gas in our atmosphere, it does not absorb thermal infrared radiation, as greenhouse gases do. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most prevalent greenhouse gas. In 2012, CO2accounted for about 82 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Trees can help, though. 300 billion tons of carbon, 40 times the annual greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, is stored in trees, according to Greenpeace.
