{"id":2347,"date":"2022-04-16T20:51:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-16T20:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/?p=2347"},"modified":"2022-07-04T12:04:51","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T12:04:51","slug":"effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Effects of Deforestation: Impact on the Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deforestation has occurred to some extent for thousands of years.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\u00a0However, since the 1950s, the size and scale of deforestation have accelerated massively.<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The tropics have suffered the greatest losses.<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In a mere 70 years, more than half of the world\u2019s rainforests have been destroyed.<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The deforestation effects caused by this are extremely harmful to both the local environment and our planet.<\/p>\r\n

What are the effects of deforestation?<\/h2>\r\n

Increased CO2 levels<\/h3>\r\n

Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change.<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Trees act as carbon sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases.<\/span>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> They use this to grow, sequestering the carbon in their trunks, branches, leaves, roots, and the surrounding soil.<\/span>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This removes CO2 from the atmosphere and prevents it from trapping heat and contributing to global warming.<\/span>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span> When trees are cut down, left to rot or burned, they release the harmful CO2 again.<\/span>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Deforestation currently accounts for at least 20 percent of all carbon emissions globally.<\/span>10<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Soil erosion & landscape degradation<\/h3>\r\n

But, it\u2019s not just the release of greenhouse gases that makes deforestation so harmful. It has destructive effects on the local environment too. For example, deforestation is a direct cause of topsoil erosion.<\/span>11<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Indeed, in the past 50 years, half of the planet\u2019s topsoil has been lost.<\/span>12<\/sup><\/a><\/span> By removing plants, particularly trees, it leaves no roots to hold the soil in place.<\/span>13<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This leaves the soil at risk of being washed away by rain or blown away by the wind.<\/span>14<\/sup><\/a><\/span> With the topsoil goes the nutrients necessary to regenerate future plantlife.<\/span>15<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Desertification<\/h3>\r\n

Logging companies can also exacerbate this by compacting already thin soil with their heavy trucks.<\/span>16<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This further inhibits new plant growth.<\/span>17<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Moreover, as the nutrient-rich soil in a deforested area is washed away, it can enter waterways and disrupt food chains.<\/span>18<\/sup><\/a><\/span> It often leaves the area arid and can even lead to desertification.<\/span>19<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is already occurring in the Amazon rainforest. The region has experienced severe droughts during the past decade due to deforestation.<\/span>20<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n

What effects does deforestation have on the Amazon?<\/h2>\r\n

In the Amazon, deforestation is taking a heavy toll. Throughout the tropics, an area of primary rainforest \u2013\u00a0the size of 30 football pitches<\/a> \u2013 is destroyed every minute.<\/span>21<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The world’s largest rainforest has lost at least 17 percent of its tree cover over the past 50 years.<\/span>22<\/sup><\/a><\/span> As mentioned, this is releasing vast quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere and reducing the efficacy of the remaining trees for sequestering further carbon.<\/span>23<\/sup><\/a><\/span> But, it also has devastating repercussions for the flora and fauna that live there.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Amazon is home to about ten percent of the world\u2019s species.<\/span>24<\/sup><\/a><\/span> At present, an estimated 137 plant, animal and insect species become extinct every day due to deforestation.<\/span>25<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This means that by 2030, as much as 45 percent of the Amazon\u2019s wildlife could be gone forever.<\/span>26<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The extinction of one species affects all the others that rely on it. Ecosystems depend upon biodiversity, and with every species lost, we are endangering all those that remain.<\/span>27<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Furthermore, deforestation in the Amazon threatens the home and livelihoods of the people who live there. More than 30 million people live across this vast region.<\/span>28<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This includes 420 Indigenous communities who have inhabited the area for thousands of years.<\/span>29<\/sup><\/a><\/span> They depend upon the Amazon for their food, water, and employment.<\/span>30<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Many of these forest communities and smallholder farmers are already extremely poor.<\/span>31<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Deforestation undermines the health of the rainforest and subsequently threatens the resources they rely upon to survive, such as a\u00e7a\u00ed and Brazil nuts.<\/span>32<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There are, therefore, compelling environmental, medical, and social reasons to protect and enhance the Amazon and other rainforests at all costs.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deforestation has occurred to some extent for thousands of years.\u00a0However, since the 1950s, the size and scale of deforestation have accelerated massively. The tropics have suffered the greatest losses. In a mere 70 years, more than half of the world\u2019s rainforests have been destroyed. The deforestation effects caused by this are extremely harmful to both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":2348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,27,261],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nEffects of Deforestation: Impact on the Environment - Climate Transform<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Deforestation effects upon the environment vary from local impacts, such as eroding topsoil, to global changes that worsen climate change.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Effects of Deforestation: Impact on the Environment - Climate Transform\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Deforestation effects upon the environment vary from local impacts, such as eroding topsoil, to global changes that worsen climate change.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Transform\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-16T20:51:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-04T12:04:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Effects-of-Deforestation-Impact-on-the-Environment.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1135\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"lilit\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Charles Bush\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Effects of Deforestation: Impact on the Environment - Climate Transform","description":"Deforestation effects upon the environment vary from local impacts, such as eroding topsoil, to global changes that worsen climate change.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Effects of Deforestation: Impact on the Environment - Climate Transform","og_description":"Deforestation effects upon the environment vary from local impacts, such as eroding topsoil, to global changes that worsen climate change.","og_url":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/","og_site_name":"Climate Transform","article_published_time":"2022-04-16T20:51:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-04T12:04:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1700,"height":1135,"url":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Effects-of-Deforestation-Impact-on-the-Environment.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"lilit","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Charles Bush","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/"},"author":{"name":"lilit","@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fb48e035f71b6d28e1b6ab052341f412"},"headline":"Effects of Deforestation: Impact on the Environment","datePublished":"2022-04-16T20:51:48+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-04T12:04:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/"},"wordCount":1431,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Blog","Deforestation","Environment"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/","url":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/","name":"Effects of Deforestation: Impact on the Environment - Climate Transform","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-04-16T20:51:48+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-04T12:04:51+00:00","description":"Deforestation effects upon the environment vary from local impacts, such as eroding topsoil, to global changes that worsen climate change.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/effects-of-deforestation-impact-on-the-environment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Effects of Deforestation: Impact on the Environment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/","name":"Climate Transform","description":"We transform views about Climate solutions","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/#organization","name":"Climate Transform","url":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/clim.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/clim.png","width":400,"height":100,"caption":"Climate Transform"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fb48e035f71b6d28e1b6ab052341f412","name":"lilit","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/57a37042a754a928b48f7da1bf9fed0c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/57a37042a754a928b48f7da1bf9fed0c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"lilit"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2347"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2347"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3335,"href":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2347\/revisions\/3335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatetransform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}