write a script about deforestation. (long)
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Deforestation is the purposeful clearing of forested land. Throughout history and into modern times, forests have been razed to make space for agriculture and animal grazing, and to obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing, and construction.
Deforestation has greatly altered landscapes around the world. About 2,000 years ago, 80 percent of Western Europe was forested; today the figure is 34 percent. In North America, about half of the forests in the eastern part of the continent were cut down from the 1600s to the 1870s for timber and agriculture. China has lost great expanses of its forests over the past 4,000 years and now just over 20 percent of it is forested. Much of Earth’s farmland was once forests.
Today, the greatest amount of deforestation is occurring in tropical rainforests, aided by extensive road construction into regions that were once almost inaccessible. Building or upgrading roads into forests makes them more accessible for exploitation. Slash-and-burn agriculture is a big contributor to deforestation in the tropics. With this agricultural method, farmers burn large swaths of forest, allowing the ash to fertilize the land for crops. The land is only fertile for a few years, however, after which the farmers move on to repeat the process elsewhere. Tropical forests are also cleared to make way for logging, cattle ranching, and oil palm and rubber tree plantations.
Deforestation can result in more carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. That is because trees take in carbon dioxide from the air for photosynthesis, and carbon is locked chemically in their wood. When trees are burned, this carbon returns to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. With fewer trees around to take in the carbon dioxide, this greenhouse gas accumulates in the atmosphere and accelerates global warming.
Deforestation also threatens the world’s biodiversity. Tropical forests are home to great numbers of animal and plant species. When forests are logged or burned, it can drive many of those species into extinction. Some scientists say we are already in the midst of a mass-extinction episode.
More immediately, the loss of trees from a forest can leave soil more prone to erosion. This causes the remaining plants to become more vulnerable to fire as the forest shifts from being a closed, moist environment to an open, dry one.
While deforestation can be permanent, this is not always the case. In North America, for example, forests in many areas are returning thanks to conservation efforts.
As the people of the world are trying to control the climate changes and preserve wildlife slowly, we are still losing chunks of forest land due to deforestation to meet the needs of the developing world’s population.
According to researchers, the leading cause of deforestation is agriculture. With the increasing population of living beings, forest lands are being cleared. Overpopulation, population growth and urbanization are the primary cause for deforestation.
Deforestation contributes to global warming and is one of the significant causes of the greenhouse effect. According to recent researches, deforestation mainly in the tropical areas is contributing about 12% of the total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions ranging from 6% to 17%.
Due to deforestation, the carbon dioxide is not being used up by the trees during photosynthesis and is getting confined in the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide traps heat from the sun, which leads to an increase in temperature and contributes to global warming, also known as the greenhouse effect.
The water cycle of the planet is also being affected due to deforestation. When the trees are being removed, they no longer are extracting groundwater and releasing it into the atmosphere, which results in drier climates.
With the trees being cut down, there is nothing to hold on the fertile soil, which leads to soil erosion and sweeping the land into the rivers. Many agricultural plants such as coffee, cotton, palm oil, soybean that are being planted on the deforested grounds cannot hold firmly onto the soil. These plants intensify soil erosion.
Forest fires also play a significant role in deforestation. Each year around millions of acres of forest cover is being ruined due to the fire.
Even today, wood is a popular choice of fuel for cooking and heating all over the world. Timber is illegally removed from forests to be used as fuelwood around the globe.
As the tropical rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems of the earth, removal or destruction of significant areas of the forest cover has led to regression of the environment with reduced diversity.
With an estimated loss of 137 plants, animals and species every single day caused due to deforestation. This approximately reaches up to 50,000 species a year. Due to this loss, there is also an adverse effect on public health. With the increase in deforestation every passing year, deforestation has been associated with the rise in disease outbreaks.
In present times, the world has lost nearly 12 million hectares of tree cover. Since 1947 the planet had 15 million to 16 million square kilometers of completely grown tropical forests, but by 2015, an estimation showed that half of these had been destroyed.
Countries such as Mexico, India, Philippines, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka have lost large areas of their rainforest.
Deforestation throws into disorder the lives of millions of people depending on forests for their livelihood. In several areas, an effort has been undertaken at replanting the forests. Some are being replanted to replace the areas for future exploitation, and some is being done for ecological restoration.
Agricultural plantations are one of the major causes of deforestation. Demand for commodities like soybeans and palm oil has increased exponentially worldwide. This results in the demand for more land and cutting down trees.
Logging is another big cause of deforestation. Wood-based industries like match sticks, paper and furniture need an enormous amount of wood. Charcoal and firewood are also useful as fuel. This results in a large part of forests being cut down.
The increase of mining to suffice the rising demand for the mineral is adding to the cause of deforestation. Coal and oil mining need forest land too. Building up of roads, railways and highways need more of these fuels thereby results in cutting down forests.
The ever-rising demand for human habitat puts the pressure on forest land. The overpopulation and the need for house and fuel are escalating the reason for deforestation.
Clearing of the forest for livestock ranching is a contributor to deforestation too. High demand for milk and milk products, meat and eggs results in the push for forest cutting.