What Are The Main Environmental Impacts of Deforestation?
"Forests are more than just a collection of trees—they are integrated ecosystems and home to some of the most diverse life on Earth. They are also major players in the carbon and water cycles that make life possible. When forests are lost or degraded, their destruction sets off a series of changes that affect life both locally and around the world"
Loss of Biodiversity
Many species rely on trees for their survival and for their habitat, and the loss of thousands of trees in an area take away those habitats.
When species lose their forest homes, they are often unable to exist in the small fragments of forested land left behind. They become more accessible to hunters and poachers, their numbers begin to dwindle and some eventually go extinct" |
Climate Change
In rain forests, the soil is very moist, but when mass amounts of trees are cut down there is nothing to block the sunlight from drying out the soil.
Also, trees also play a role in the water cycle by releasing water vapor into the atmosphere. When trees are cut down this changes that cycle, and that contributes to drastically changing the climate of the ecosystem and can also change weather patterns. |
Greenhouse Gases
The release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is one of the main contributors to global warming. Trees absorb some of these gases, and so deforestation contributes greatly to global warming.
Also, greenhouse gases in the atmosphere can cause weather changes. Deforestation then negatively affects species living in forests because it not only takes away their tree habitat, but it also causes weather changes that can harm them. |
Soil Erosion
Erosion can pull land into bodies of water because if trees are cut down, then there is nothing to hold down soil. "Scientists have estimated that a third of the world’s arable land has been lost through soil erosion and other types of degradation since 1960"
The cycle of deforestation then continues because when fertile soil washes away due to deforestation, then agricultural workers move to other areas and clear the forest there. |
http://worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/
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http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/
http://www.inquire-magazine.com/wp-content/gallery/issue2_burningissue/vancouver_island_redcedar_stump_tj_watt.jpg