WHAT IS DEFORESTATION? Deforestation A deforested area Deforestation is when forests are lost and not replanted. Sometimes deforestation happens when people change the land into farms, ranches and cities. A lot of deforestation is from removal of all the trees from a forest for wood or fuel. The opposite of deforestation is afforestation. Cause of deforestation[change | edit source] Deforestation is the removal of trees for requirements of growing population. Forests have the following functions:- regulation of the water cycleproduction of soilprovide habitat for animalsprovide most of our oxygenmaintain the oxygen and carbon dioxide balance in the atmosphereregulation of temperatureprevent soil erosion There are many reasons for deforestation like logging where people cut down trees for money because they have to feed their families Forests are often planted to protect against natural disasters. Trees are also important for storing carbon. Other websites[change | edit source]
SO WHAT'S BEEN IN THE MEDIA? Deforestation The Double Whammy of Deforestation Deforestation by burning, a widespread practice in the world’s tropical rain forests, adversely impacts the trace-gas composition of the atmosphere in two different ways. First, the burning of the tropical forests produces large amounts of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and other trace gases that are products when biomass burns. Second, the tropical forest is an important sink, or repository, for carbon dioxide. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is incorporated into the living biomass via the process of photosynthesis, which in turn produces the oxygen we breathe. The Past Much of the Earth was once covered by trees, but the majority of these were cleared long ago to make way for an ever expanding human population. People have been living in and around tropical rain forests for tens of thousands of years, taking what they needed from the wealth of natural resources available without compromising their environment.
Australia's east coast named as 'deforestation front' in WWF Living Planet report | Environment Australia’s east coast has been compared to the Amazon as a “deforestation front” in a new global report by the World Wide Fund for Nature that underscores the threat to populations of koalas and other native species. The Living Planet report, produced by WWF every second year for the past 20 years, says global populations of vertebrate species have declined 60% since 1970. But koala numbers have disappeared at a much faster rate – more than 20% a decade – to the extent they could disappear from the wild in New South Wales by 2050. The report assessed 11 deforestation hotspots, where broadscale clearing had occurred at problematic levels since 2010, and where deforestation was expected to continue in the next decade. Eastern Australia was the only location in the developed world to make the list. “The plight of koalas is matched by alarming declines for many other uniquely Australian species who are losing their forest homes.”
National Geographic: Deforestation Modern-Day Plague Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year. The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation. Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related to money or to people’s need to provide for their families.The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also cut countless trees each year. Not all deforestation is intentional. Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. Deforestation also drives climate change. Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s rays during the day and holds in heat at night.
Websites: Live Science: Deforestation Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses. An estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest, which is roughly the size of the country of Panama, are lost each year, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Some other statistics: About half of the world's tropical forests have been cleared (FAO) Forests currently cover about 30 percent of the world’s land mass (National Geographic) Forest loss contributes between 6 percent and 12 percent of annual global carbon dioxide emissions (Nature Geoscience) About 36 football fields worth of trees lost every minute (World Wildlife Fund (WWF)) Deforestation occurs around the world, though tropical rainforests are particularly targeted. Error loading player: No playable sources found Though deforestation has increased rapidly in the past 50 years, it has been practiced throughout history. Weather vs. 0 of 10 questions complete
IMPACTS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ISSUE: RECOMMENDATIONS(to improve the issue) Deforestation Facts, Deforestation Information, Effects of Deforestation Modern-Day Plague Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year. The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation. Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related to money or to people’s need to provide for their families.The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also cut countless trees each year. Not all deforestation is intentional. Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. Deforestation also drives climate change. Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s rays during the day and holds in heat at night.
Deforestation in Eastern Australia Australia is the only place on Earth where all three major divisions of mammals are present: the egg-laying monotremes (platypus and echidna); the marsupials; and the placental mammals. At least 130,000 species of native animals and plants, nearly 8% of all life on Earth, are found in Australia. The forests and woodlands of eastern Australia comprise the six WWF terrestrial ecoregions within the Australian states of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland: Queensland tropical rain forests, Eastern Australia temperate forests, Brigalow tropical savannah, Eastern Australia mulga shrublands, Southeast Australia temperate forests and Southeast Australia temperate savannahs. At least 10% of native Australian terrestrial species are endemic to this region, and 24% have the majority of known records in this region. Two of the ecoregions, Queensland tropical rain forests and Eastern Australian temperate forests, comprise the Forests of Eastern Australia global biodiversity hotspot.
Websites: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)