According to the World Resources Institute, more than 80 percent of the
Earth’s natural forests already have been destroyed. Up to 90 percent of
West Africa’s coastal rain forests have disappeared since 1900. Brazil and
Indonesia, which contain the world’s two largest surviving regions of rain
forest, are being stripped at an alarming rate by logging, fires, and landclearing for agriculture and cattle-grazing.
What is the root cause of your chosen environmental issue?
Deforestation is a huge ecological problem all over the world. Some of the
root causes for it I will discuss in more detail later but some of the main
reasons are that many countries allow for deforestation to occur for logging,
lumber, animal grazing and for farming, as well as furthering industrialization
in their country.
Deforestation hurts not only vegetation but animal species that depend on
trees. It can also lead to issues with the natural balance of the Earth and
cause major problems in our ecosystem.
Why is this occurring?
The clearest answer to why Deforestation is occurring in many parts of the
world is for the greed of money. Many countries allow this practice for farming,
animal grazing, and the need for fuel and lumber and logging as well as for
industrialization.
Deforestation can also have diverse effects on the Earth’s climate. Without
the protection from the sun on many of the forest soils they dry out and kill
surrounding vegetation. Trees also help with cycling water when the water
vapors go back into the Earth’s Atmosphere.
Not only does deforestation have effects on climate but also with the habitat
in surrounding areas. Without the vegetation and protection from the sun and
other predators from the trees in forests and rainforest we loss many of the
plant and animal species.
Seventy percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in
forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that
destroys their homes.
Not all deforestation is man made. Nature plays a role in it as well with natural
occurrences such as Tornados, Wildfires and overgrazing.
The U.S. State Department estimates that forests four times
the size of Switzerland are lost each year because of
clearing and degradation.
Where is it occurring?
Deforestation is occurring on almost every continent on Earth. From, North
America to South America as well as Africa, Asia and Europe. It’s a huge
global issue.
This chart below shows the areas and the rates of Deforestation.
What is being done or can be done to handle this environmental
problem?
No one solution can completely stop Deforestation all together but there are
many things that can be done to reduce the need to cut down entire forests and
rainforests.
A few ways that we can help handle this environmental problem:

Eco-forestry -- where only carefully selected trees are cut down and
are transported with minimal damage to the area; the forest ecosystem
is preserved while commercial timber extraction is still permitted

Green business -- focuses on recycled paper and wood products,
wood alternatives and environmentally responsible consumerism

Land use planning -- advocates environmentally friendly development
techniques, such as reduction of urban and suburban sprawl

Community forestry -- where concerned citizens come together to
manage and participate in keeping their local forests viable and
sustainable
Works Cited
ConservationDotOrg. "YouTube - Aerial Surveying of Madagascar's Deforestation Conservation International (CI)
." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
. N.p., 1 Apr. 2011.
Web. 1 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ane5mTok0ug>.
"Deforestation Facts, Deforestation Information, Effects of Deforestation - National Geographic."
Environment Facts, Environment Science, Global Warming, Natural Disasters,
Ecosystems, Green Living - National Geographic. N.p., 10 Mar. 2011. Web. 20 Mar.
2011. <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/globalwarming/deforestation-overview/>.
"Forest Protection Portal - Vast Forest Protection News, Information Retrieval
Tools and
Original Analysis." Forest Protection Portal - Vast Forest Protection News, Information
Retrieval
Tools and Original Analysis. N.p., 1 Apr. 2011. Web. 1 Apr. 2011.
<http://forests.org/>.
"Home - Conservation International
." Home - Conservation International . N.p., 20 Mar.
2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. <http://www.conservation.org/Pages/default.aspx>.
"Issues In Global Education - What is Deforestation." Globaled.org. N.p., 20 Mar. 2011. Web. 20
Mar. 2011. <http://www.globaled.org/issues/152/d.html>.
"National Geographic: Eye in the Sky--Deforestation." National Geographic - Inspiring People to
Care About the Planet Since 1888. N.p., 10 Mar. 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/deforestation/effect.html>.
country. "Deforestation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
N.p., 10 Mar. 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation>.