{"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 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 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 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 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":"\nWhat are the effects of deforestation?<\/h2>\r\n
Increased CO2 levels<\/h3>\r\n
Soil erosion & landscape degradation<\/h3>\r\n
Desertification<\/h3>\r\n
What effects does deforestation have on the Amazon?<\/h2>\r\n