Effect of Deforestation on Society

Merriam Webster Dictionary defines deforestation as “the action or process of clearing of forests.” 

Due to the growing global population, the demand for resources is rapidly increasing alongside deforestation. It corresponds to a cycle like process, as population increases the need for product increases, which leads to the increase in deforestation. About 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down each year (n.p.). This devastation to forest environments endangers countless animals because of the loss of their habitat.

Furthermore, plants are essential for oxygen production, which is a necessary component for life on earth. Therefore, deforestation results in a depletion of the oxygen quantity in the air. Deforestation endangers living organisms, eliminates vegetation, and lowers the atmospheres oxygen content. Due to these long-lasting impacts, environmental protection legislation must be implemented.

One of the major effects of deforestation is the endangerment of living organisms. Our hunger for agricultural land and grazing pastures means that we are now wiping out not just individual animals, but whole ecosystems,”(Papineau).

Papineau addresses that humans are wiping out ecosystems through deforestation. This is a harmful issue because species won't be able to reproduce, and other organisms would be short on food supply. Habitats are being fragmented due to the cutting down of trees for agriculture. When there habitat becomes fragmented, they won't be able to reproduce freely with other populations. Deforestation has been going on for years, but has recently worsen due to the growing population. “Without such protections against deforestation and illegal mining and logging, he predicted, These majestic creatures will likely face extinction by 2050,” (Brubaker).

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This article talks about the endangerment of the Borneo Elephant which are mostly found in asia. Elephants play an important role in maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystem. They use their trunks to spread seeds from place to place, which helps them sprout and also helps many other animals live. If these animals become extinct, then the ecosystems would be different in a harmful way. For instance, animals located in forests would greatly be impacted due to the loss of trees in their habitat. Trees are an elephants source of food. Without plants, animals won't have food to eat, or won't have a stable habitat. Because of the destruction of habitats, the threat of extinction, and the distribution to the food chain, deforestation endangers animals.

Many trees are being cut down, because of the demand for land that aside for agriculture. Due to the fact that living organisms get their nutrition from plants, vegetation plays an important role in the environment. About 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees are cut down each year (n.p.). Deforestation is mostly seen in forests such as, the indonesian forest, and the amazon rainforest in brazil. Trees are being cut down for urbanization for us humans.

One of the necessary components of life is oxygen. Oxygen is the air that we breathe in order to stay alive. Without oxygen we wouldn't be here today. Trees play a big role in the release of oxygen into the air. They take in bad products from the atmosphere, and release oxygen for us to breathe. Deforestation reduces the amount of oxygen in the air. When there are less amount of trees, there would be a decreasing amount of oxygen that would be released. Humans could be greatly impacted, the lack of oxygen could cause death.

On the other hand, C02 is a greenhouse gas, which stays in the atmosphere for an extended period of time, and contributes to global warming. C02 is important for plants because it helps with the process of photosynthesis. Plants take in carbon, produced by animals and turn it into oxygen so that other living organisms could breathe. “…deforestation contributes 15 percent of global greenhouse emissions,”(Greentumble). Deforestation leads to an increase in the amount of C02 in the air. When trees are cut down they let out carbon dioxide, which then disturbs the greenhouse. The atmospheres balance of gasses would be off centered when trees are cut down because of the release of C02. Then, it will start to warm up which will negatively affect the remaining plants. C02 could cause humans and animals to die, if there is a large amount of it in the air. Because cutting down countless trees alters the amount of oxygen and C02 in the air, the effects of deforestation negatively affects both plants and humans alike.

A considerable amount of laws have been in order to combat deforestation. Recently, there was a debate in Brazil about deforestation. In Thailand, there have also been discussions about deforestation. “These monks teach farmers ecologically sound practices and blame economic development for ecological destruction and deforestation. They argue that the destruction of the environment is caused by people who are motivated by economic and material benefits,” (Darlington).

On Friday, November 3rd 2018 in Ghana a piece of legislation was passed by the parliament. The purpose was to stop illegal deforestation in hopes to better manage the country's forest. “The national forest management act of 1976 requires every national forest or grassland managed by the forest service to develop and maintain an effective land management plan,”(laws and regulations).

Conclusion

Ultimately, deforestation is one of the leading causes of food chain disruption due to its endangerment of living organisms. Deforestation eliminates vegetation which puts one of the world's main source of oxygen in jeopardy. Because of the environmental threats, deforestations inflicts upon the globe, many political debates have taken place around the world to determine the best plan of action to combat these trifles. As a result, environmental legislation on the amount of threes that are cut down yearly, should be written into effect in order to protect human beings and the disturbance of the food chain.