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Kayla Kuffel
Mr. Szalowski
English II
4 March 2010
Deforestation
Almost half of the original forests in the world have been lost. Many are still being
destroyed, damaged, or degraded (WWF). Humans are logging and clear-cutting to obtain wood
to be used for many types of things. Slash-and-burn is the process of clearing the land and
burning the wood and the other things that were on that land so that it can be used for farming,
infrastructure, buildings, or whatever that land has been designated to be used for. People are
trying to prevent deforestation in various regions of the world because it has some harmful
effects on the environment.
Deforestation affects more than one aspect of the Earth. The global climate can be altered
by logging and clear-cutting. Forests that are destroyed release carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere. This creates a warming influence (Bala). In other words, cutting down forests
contributes to global warming. Besides releasing carbon dioxide, deforestation eliminates “the
possible increase of carbon storage in trees as a result of future CO2 fertilization, and decreasing
evapotranspiration” (Bala). There is also a cooling influence by decreasing the surface albedo,
which is the surface’s reflection of the sun’s radiation (Budikova). Not only is the climate
altered, but the water balance is disrupted, sometimes irreversibly (WWF). This can alter the
local areas, too, because they might rely on this balance for their water. These effects and more
upset the life in the forest. Some of the most threatened and endangered species live in the
world’s forests (WWF). When the forests are cut down, these animals lose their homes. Without
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homes, the animals obviously have nowhere to go, so endangered species have more of a chance
of going extinct. The World Wildlife Fund also points out that 1.6 billion people rely on what
forests have to offer, including food, clothing, medicine, and shelter. Many things are affected by
deforestation, not just one.
Deforestation takes place in many regions of the world. The most frequently mentioned
forests are tropical forests (Lindsey). Dense rainforests are included in tropical forests (Lindsey).
Humans are clearing these areas so that they can use the wood for construction and fuel, but they
are also using the land to build roads, farms and pastures, and create more urban areas (Lindsey).
The Amazon is one of the main regions in which deforestation takes place (Gutro). In fact,
according to Rob Gutro, Brazil is the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases because of the
deforestation taking place in the Amazon. It is not just the Amazon though, because 36 million
acres of forest are lost every year. That is approximately the size of the state of New York
(Gutro). According to Gutro’s article, if we did not have as much logging, there would not be as
much clear cutting. It has been noted that logging is mostly concentrated on areas between three
and fifteen miles from roads. That logging leads to clear cutting. When forests are logged, it
makes it two to four times more likely for those forests to be clear-cut (Gutro). Some other
regions that have been subject to deforestation are Russia, Indonesia, China, and the Congo
(WWF). Deforestation happens all around the world.
Many things are being done to prevent deforestation. The United States government is
part of “several international programs that address forest degradation and deforestation”
(Sheikh). One of these programs is the ITTO. ITTO stands for the International Tropical Timber
Organization. There are 60 members and it was founded in 1986. The reason it was founded is
“concerns over tropical deforestation” (Sheikh). It promotes conservation of forests and tries to
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get other countries to do the same. Another program that the United States government is
involved in is the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (Sheikh). Obviously, it works for the
conservation of tropical forests. Other organizations work to protect our forests besides the
government. The World Wildlife Fund, also known as WWF, works extremely hard to conserve
and manage the world’s forests. Its website states “One billion acres of the forests in the world
were designated as protected areas by the year 2005.” The World Wildlife Fund protects parts of
Russia, Indonesia, China, the Congo, and the Amazon (WWF). Besides what it already has
protected, it aims to protect another 185 million acres of the world’s forests (WWF). This
organization really takes protection of the environment seriously. Strict rules and regulations for
loggers are enforced by WWF. Some of these rules and goals include “increasing credible
certification of forests and curbing illegal logging, encouraging companies to source their forest
products from well-managed forests, and helping communities have more control over their
forests” (WWF). There are penalties for loggers who do not follow the rules. They can be fined,
or they can even go to jail. Another form of prevention is using alternatives. Philip Fearnside
mentions “the extraction of non-timber forest products such as rubber and Brazil nuts” instead of
always using wood from the forests to fulfill our needs. Sometimes, though, wood is used, but
the people who cut down the trees restore the forest by planting new trees and restoring the
landscape (WWF). People have done various things to prevent destruction of the forests and they
continue to practice these good habits.
As you can see, deforestation effects the environment in a few different ways, including
the global climate and other things. Some organizations have been set up to prevent, and people
take part in this activity in various regions of the world. It is not all bad, and it is not all good,
just as with any topic there are good and bad aspects.
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Works Cited
Bala, G. “Combined Climate and Carbon-cycle Effects of Large-scale Deforestation.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. N.p.,
17 Apr. 2007. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article/PMC1871823/>.
Budikova, Dagmar. “Albedo.” Encyclopedia of Earth. Ed. Mryka Hall-Beyer and Galal Hassan.
N.p., 24 Jan. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2010. <http://www.eoearth.org/article/albedo>.
Fearnside, Philip M. “Deforestation in Amazonia.” The Encyclopedia of Earth. Ed. Mryka HallBeyer. N.p., 30 Mar. 2007. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.
<http://www.eoearth.org/article/Deforestation_in_Amazonia>.
Gutro, Rob. “Small-Scale Logging Leads to Clear-cutting in Brazilian Amazon.” Earth
Observatory. NASA, 1 Aug. 2006. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
<http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/view.php?id=30510>.
Lindsey, Rebecca. “Tropical Deforestation.” Earth Observatory. NASA, 30 Mar. 2007. Web. 22
Feb. 2010. <http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/>.
Sheikh, Pervaze A., and Ross W. Gorte. “Climate Change and International Deforestation:
Legislative Analysis.” CRS Report for Congress. Congressional Research Service, 22
Aug. 2008. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
<http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/109500.pdf>.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF). “Forests – Why It Matters.” WWF. WWF, 2010. Web. 24 Feb.
2010. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/forests/whyitmatters.html>