Deforestation
What is Deforestation?
• The definition of deforestation is the loss of forest land
faster than it can be replenished.
• Has many harmful effects on the environment.
• Happening too quickly to recover.
Characteristics
Approximately 53,000 square miles of rainforest
destroyed per year.
If continues with the same rate, all the forests are gone
in 100 years.
Occurs mostly in urban areas and near roads.
Developing nations have minimal or non-existent of
reforestation programs.
Over half of Earth's original rainforest has already been
destroyed.
Causes - Natural
Forest fires
Flooding
Causes - Human
Agriculture
Logging
Mining
Dams
Roads
Agriculture
Leading cause of deforestation
Farmers need land to grow crops and raise animals
They remove forest land to make room for farms
They use slash and burn to perform deforestation
Logging
Logging is illegal in many areas, like National
Parks
Loggers cut down trees for their wood
The wood is used for many purposes, including
paper production and as a building material
Mining
Miners search for materials like gold, copper,
and aluminum
This clears the land, including the forest that
occupies it
Contaminates the ecosystem with runoff
Dams
Generate hydroelectric energy
Flood forests that are upstream
Trees decay slowly when dams are built in
tropical waters, depriving the water of oxygen
Roads
Building the roads themselves destroys trees in
the way
Provides access to a larger area of the forest for
loggers, miners, and farmers
Effects of Deforestation
Disrupts water cycle and carbon cycle
Loss of biodiversity
Soil Erosion
Poor water quality
Water Cycle
If the trees are
gone, there will be
less transpiration
and less water
released into the
hydrologic cycle.
Carbon Cycle
CO2 CO2 CO2 CO2
CO2
02
If trees aren’t there, carbon dioxide will
accumulate and contribute to the greenhouse
effect.
Loss of Biodiversity
Rainforests contain over half of the world’s
species.
Loss of trees -> loss of primary consumers ->
loss of secondary consumers -> …
When trees are removed, all rainforest life is
affected.
Soil Erosion
Soil erosion is when soil is removed by natural causes
When trees are gone, their roots cannot hold the soil
in place.
Reduces soil’s capacity to hold water.
Makes agriculture difficult.
Poor Water Quality
Soil erosion lets dirt enter runoff, lowering water
quality.
Makes for bad living conditions for fish.
A reduced amount of fish can cause
complications to all the way up the food chain.
Deforestation Hazards
Increase the global warming -- melting ice caps
to increase desertification.
An increase of flooding.
Loss of carbon sink (trees consume – sink –
carbon).
Pollution from machinery.
Can result in more carbon dioxide in the air.
Loose stones can result in mud slides.
Micro-climate changes – shift of ecosystems.
Diminished gene pools in endangered species.
Examples of Deforested Areas
Rainforest once covered 14% of earth.
The Amazon
Africa
Southeast Asia
The Amazon
World’s largest tropical rainforest.
Located in South America.
1/5 of the world’s plants and 1/10 of animals are
found here.
Rainforests in Africa
World’s second largest rainforest.
Almost all of the forest on Madagascar is gone.
Madagascar too contains a large amount of
biodiversity that has been compromised.
Rainforests in Southeast Asia
Indonesia is covered in rainforest.
Has been deforested just like the Amazon and in
Africa.
It is hot and humid the whole year.
Deforestation in Brunei
The War Against Deforestation
Tauato Operation prevents deforestation.
Brazilian national army fines illegal
deforestation.
Federal police created a plan to prevent
illegal deforestation.
How You Can Help?
Online activists= chat rooms to help cause against
deforestation.
Slow down logging industry, change law of first to
clear gets land.
Chat rooms talk about what they can do together to
slow down the logging industry by protesting the
main areas. Moreover-
Buying sustainably grown foods
Buying environmentally friendly paper
Donating to an organization that stands up for forests
Reforestation
Sustainably Grown Food
This is food that was grown without negative
effects like deforestation
Only buying this type of food pressures
businesses into producing it, as they will
produce what you buy
Environmentally Friendly Paper
This could be recycled paper or paper made
from bamboo.
Again, this pressures paper making companies
into using recycled paper and bamboo paper.
Donating to Organizations
Donate Organizations who fight against
deforestation
Reforestation
After cutting down a tree we should plant two
because this way there will be a balance of
ecosystem and the rate of deforestation will
diminish.
“For in the true nature
of things, if we rightly
consider, every green
tree is far more
glorious than if it were
made of gold or silver.”
-Martin Luther
1483~1546