Deforestation has even been caused by extensive warthroughout history fire has often been used to deprive the enemy of necessary resources. Natural causes as hurricanes, fires, parasites and floods. Human activities as agricultural expansion, cattle breeding, timber extraction, mining, oil extraction, dam construction and infrastructure development. Deforestation is the conversion of forest to nonforest land and can result in land 8 degradation. Methane has increased as a result of human activities related to agriculture, natural gas distribution and landfills. Deforestation is one of the most alarming social and environmental issues of the present time. Whether the cause is natural or human driven, global warming is a serious issue that everyone should be aware of. However, most of the existing literature typically distinguishes between two levels of specific factors. Here team guidetoexam brings to you essay on deforestation and its effects along with solutions to deforestation. Building of dams upstream for hydroelectricity can cause water scarcity downstream. Where there be tundra or glaciers, there is permafrost. If plant uptake was a dominant process influencing freshwater nutrient loading, then this loading would respond to deforestation as shown in figure 2.
Greenhouse gases are emitted during combustion of forest biomass and decomposition of remaining plant material and soil carbon. Some infrastructure activities, such as road building, have a large indirect effect through opening up forests to settlers and agriculture. Natural causes of degradation include insect pests, storm damage and natural fires. In the sahel, the slash and burning of natural forests and bush lands in order to clear land for agriculture is considered one of the main causes of deforestation and vegetation. But flood occurrences are very prominent due to the deforestation in the upper and lower catchments of the river basin in the recent years. Deforestation initially reduces nutrient uptake by terrestrial vegetation leading to enhanced nutrient flow from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems, for periods of usually 17 years. This is a frozen soil that has trapped environmental gases for centuries. Human driven and natural loss of trees deforestation affects wildlife, ecosystems, weather patterns, and even the climate. Concern is rising about the adverse consequences of tropical deforestation. Not only human action can cause degradation to occur, but also natural causes such as the nature of rainfall amount, intensity, variability, distribution, soil texture, structure, depth, moisture, infiltration rate and topography play an important role in the scope and scale of occurring degradation features. Deforestation is the process of cutting down trees and clearing land.
Causes, effects and control strategies sumit chakravarty 1, s. Human use of groundwater reservoirs through pumping for drinkinghousehold needs or of river water for irrigation can also take up water contributing to hydrological drought. What are the main natural and human causes of drought. With the rapid growth in population, the uses of woods are also increased. With the right collaboration between human health, animal health and environmental authorities, fall says, you have some mechanisms for early warnings. Become informed on manmade and natural causes of deforestation and how and why it is affecting our planet. Natural causes and effects of deforestation earth joggers. We have crafted these essays on deforestation in various words so that students of different standards get benefited. In conventional rainfall, water evaporates from local land and water sources during high temperature. Deforestation can also occur to produce the wood and organic materials needed for a variety of industries. Such initiatives, especially evident in countries such as brazil and indonesia, promoted large in. The waterladen air rises up in the atmosphere, where it is cooled and comes down as rain.
Feb 07, 2019 causes of deforestation farming, grazing of livestock, mining, and drilling combined account for more than half of all deforestation. Deforestation usually involves long, complex chains of cause and effect. How do human activities contribute to climate change and. We begin this chapter by outlining and illustrating an approach to accounting for the major proximate causes of global change, and then proceed to the more difficult. Deforestation is a primary contributor to climate change. The distinction between direct and underlying causes, and between human induced and natural change, is often unclear.
During recent decades, wildfires have been recognized as a new actor of deforestation and degradation in the tropics, as a rule following landuse change and fragmentation of forest cover. Deforestation can result from deliberate removal of forest cover for agriculture or urban development, or it can be an unintentional consequence of uncontrolled grazing which can prevent the natural regeneration of young trees. Deforestation is a severe cause of global warming since, after fossil fuel combustion, it is the secondlargest anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide. Yet understanding the human sidehuman causes of and responses. Some examples of deforestation causes are forest fires, droughts, exotic animals, floods, climate change, and overpopulation of foreign animals. This is due to the fact that, at its base, urban sprawl is driven by overpopulation. Among all the causes population explosion is considered the main cause of deforestation. While landslides are considered naturally occurring disasters, human induced changes in the environment have recently caused their upsurge. Causes and features of watershed degradation related to mhp. Greatly accelerated by human activities since 1960, deforestation has been negatively affecting natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and the climate. Natural causes as hurricanes, fires, parasites and floods human activities as agricultural expansion, cattle breeding, timber extraction, mining, oil extraction, dam construction and infrastructure development. The major causes of deforestation is rapid population growth, which leads to an increase in the demand for crop and grazing land, wood for fuel and construction 2. Forest is an extensive area composing of dense and tall species of.
Deforestation and forest degradation as an environmental. It can also happen gradually as a result of ongoing forest degradation as temperatures rise due to climate change caused by human activity. Study on the evolution of some deforestation drivers and their. Jul 16, 2019 deforestation is the purposeful clearing of forested land. Fao believes a forest is a part of land superior to. Although these forests have relatively few tree species, they are crucial to terrestrial ecosystem, climate change, as well as local social and economic activities. Barber, climate change, human land use and future fires in.
If deforestation eliminates these natural ecosystems, many species will likely face extinction. Fossil fuel burning coal, oil, and natural gas for energy consumption is the main source of these emissions, with additional contributions from agriculture, deforestation, and manufacturing. Throughout history and into modern times, forests have been razed to make space for agriculture and animal grazing, and to obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing, and construction. Whatever the reason for human appearance on the earth, humans have been interacting with their environment since people first walked the earth. There are different causes of deforestation such as population explosion, infrastructure expansion, logging, agricultural expansion, etc. Science says that human beings have appeared through biological evolution.
Deforestation mayalso arise from natural causes such as forest fires. Deforestation is the main cause for many natural deficiencies and the destruction of many animal, plant and bird species. There are both natural and manmade causes, and the global temperature we have today is likely an outcome of the interaction between the two types of factors. Deforestation has greatly altered landscapes around the world. One of the causes of deforestation is societys desire to acquire new land for agriculture, urbanization, road infrastructure, and mining hosonuma et al. It also increases the likelihood of floods and other natural disasters.
Siberia has one of the largest expanses of permafrost but you can walk across it in areas of alaska and canada too. Why deforestation and extinctions make pandemics more likely. Infact, a forest is determined by the presence of trees and absence of forms of use which prevail in territories different from forests. Lack of viable land use policy and corresponding law also aggravated the rate of. How do human activities contribute to climate change and how. Methane is also released from natural processes that occur, for example. Deforestation is the conversion of forest to another land use or the longterm reduction of the tree canopy cover. The underlying causes of forest decline center for international. In understanding interrelated causes of deforestation and forest degradation, we distinguish between. Learn about the manmade and natural causes of deforestation and how. Deforestation is a big problem for humans and also for the whole ecosystem.
Factors affecting deforestation and forest degradation in. The main driver of deforestation in the tropics is demand for land on which to grow crops or raise. Forest land is frequently cleared and transformed into agricultural land in order to keep up with the everincreasing demand for food which can, in turn, be linked to overpopulation. Human activities have always had an impact on the environment. Deforestation represents one of the largest issues in global land use. Sources for water may include natural lakes and rivers, manmade reservoirs and groundwater. According to fao the definition of deforestation is closely related to the definition of forest. Forest fires, for example, may affect the elderly, children and those with high degrees ofexposure. Although tropical forests are largely confined to developing countries, they arent just meeting local or national needs. Environmental and pollution sciencecauses and consequences of species diversity in.
Causes of deforestation deforestation has been practiced by humans for tens of thousands of years before the beginnings of civilization 3. All the human causes of global environmental change happen through a subset of proximate causes, which directly alter aspects of the environment in ways that have global effects. Estimates of deforestation traditionally are based on the area of forest cleared for human use, including removal of the trees for wood products and for croplands and grazing lands. Pdf impacts of humaninduced deforestation, forest degradation.
Climate consequences of possible temperate deforestation. Commercial agriculture is the most important driver of deforestation in latin. For the most part, human activity is to blame for deforestation, though natural disasters do play a role. Causes of deforestation are the forces that motivate the agents to clear the forests. Deforestation and forest degradation can happen quickly, such as when a forest is clearcut to make way for a palm oil plantation or a new settlement. Proximate or direct drivers of deforestation and forest degradation are human activities and actions that directly impact forest cover and result in loss of carbon stocks. Insufficient political actions and governance failure as inadequate land. Deforestation will have increasingly serious consequences for biodiversity, humans, and climate. Logging, or cutting down trees in a forest to harvest timber for wood, products or fuel, is a primary driver of deforestation. Agents, causes, and consequences of deforestation, degradation, and. All the examples depicted above show that the reason was human activity, be it faulty levees system or incogitant deforestation. Jalpaiguri district is famous for the vast forest tracks and for their luxuriant growth of natural vegetation is facing the problem of large scale deforestation or forest clearings due to the expansion of agricultural lands, tea gardens, roadways, railways, rapid urban isotones or settlements etc. Deforestation and climate change the web site cannot be found. How deforestation is affecting global water cycles, 2018.
What causes climate change is highlighted by human actions such as the the burning of fossil fuels and changes in land use, including agriculture and deforestation. The human cause of climate change is not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing. In other countries, clearcut logging practices have been the main reason for forest loss. Jun 16, 2020 deforestation harms nature and natural resources. The construction or paving of roads in forested areas is among the principal causes of deforestation. Fire was the first tool that allowed humans to modify the landscape 4. Don leckie, natural resources canada deforestation in canadaa snapshot deforestation is not loggingit is the result of clearing trees for a change to a nonforest land use, such as agriculture. Human activities that drive forest degradation include overgrazing, demand for fuel wood and charcoal, excessive logging and human induced fires. The combined effect of grazing and fires can be a major cause of deforestation in dry areas. Pages 310 of the pdf document focus on where all this excess co2 is coming from, and shows the relative amounts that are coming from emissions and from deforestation. Forest fires burn trees in large amounts, leaving little to none left. The impacts of selective logging are relatively small and shortterm if the proportion of canopy removed is low, whereas it can radically. In contrast, tropical deforestation is substantial and continuing, and releases large amounts of co 2, because of the carbon stored in the vegetation and released when tropical forests are cut down. Agriculture is estimated to be the proximate driver for around 80% of deforestation worldwide.
Direct causes people have been deforesting the earth for thousands of years, primarily to clear land for crops or livestock. Deforestation agents are loggers, firewood collectors, slash and burn farmers, infrastructure developers, and others who are cutting down the forest while the cause of deforestation is the force. The soil left after deforestation is often of poor quality, and it. The causes of deforestation in developing countries jstor.
Carbon dioxide is produced in the burning of forest biomass and by the decomposition of plant material. It places about one billion people in 110 countries at risk, mainly in developing regions. So lets take a look at how and why humans deforest areas. Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to utilize the land or trees. Deforestation causes can either be direct or indirect. Deforestation and fragmentation of forests are also the most radical. Mar 01, 2012 in tropical production forests, selective logging is considered one of the main causes of both deforestation and forest degradation fao, 2004, asner et al. Forest fires, for example, may affect the elderly, children and. Deforestation and its effects on human health deforestation is as a result of logging activities and clearing for agriculture and settlement. The most common pressures causing deforestation and severe forest degradation are agriculture, unsustainable forest management, mining, infrastructure projects and increased fire incidence and intensity. Carbon dioxide is also released in natural processes such as the decay of plant matter. There are many causes of tropical deforestation commercial logging, largescale agriculture.
The increase of mining on tropical forests is furthering damage due to the rising demand and high mineral prices. Agriculture is one of the primary drivers of deforestation both in modern times and in. Urban sprawl is one of the most difficult deforestation related issues to solve. In this case, agriculture is the main immediate driver of deforestation, which is influenced by underlying factors, such as the expansion of. The most important direct causes of deforestation include logging, the conversion of forested lands for agriculture and cattleraising, urbanization, mining and oil exploitation, acid rain and fire. Aug 27, 2020 causes and effects of deforestation are one of the main reasons for acidifying the ocean water, which is affecting the ecosystem of oceans adversely. Direct causes of deforestation are agricultural expansion, wood extraction e. The main drivers of deforestation are all likely to increase in coming years as a result of continued increases in population and economic.
Pdf because subjects such as water, food, climate and forests are often limited to the confines of different categories, it is very hard to get cohesive correlation between specialist information in each area. Causes, effects and types of landslides earth eclipse. An overview of theoretical and empirical studies on deforestation. Although the causes of landslides are wide ranging, they have 2 aspects in common. Long and short essay on deforestation and its effects. The exact causes of deforestation change over time, and vary from region to region.
Deforestation defined as the conversion of forested land to other uses, or a permanent reduction of canopy cover has attracted increasing international attention in recent. Even the forests left standing are vulnerable to damage thanks to the changed environment that often results from deforestation. Human activities can have an impact on natural disasters. In many countries, people clear land to use it for other purposes, such as agriculture, pasture land, and urban development. While it is quite profitable for certain small groups like farmers, deforestation is extremely harmful to the planet since it enhances global warming and also leads to the extinction of many species. For example, in the brazilian amazon, above 80% of deforestation occurs in a 100 km band along major roads. Natural and manmade causes of global warming earth eclipse. How can human activities affect the frequency and impact of natural disasters. Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. Deforestation is also being driven by logging, human migration and population increases, extractive industries mining, oil and gas, transport and infrastructure projects and expanding towns and cities.
One of the leading causes of deforestation is agriculture and cattle grazing. Recently, large areas of forests are under threat from different factors both human and natural, and significant deforestation occurred. Loss of natural habitat one of the most severe effects of deforestation is the loss of animal and plant species due to loss of habitat. Thus, essential and growth limiting nutrients would exhibit.
If the practice of cutting down trees continues, then eventually even the world may get destructed along with the extinction of the human race. It is used to convert closed forests into more open ecosystems favorable to grazing land and crop cultivation. Forests,deforestation and human health by theresa c. Deforestation has several environmental affects like air pollution, soil pollution, climatic change and soil erosion etc. Mar 30, 2007 tropical forests are home to half the earths species, and their trees are an immense standing reservoir of carbon.
Deforestation and forest degradation eu redd facility. Forestry practices, wildfires and, in small part, urbanization. Coral reefs in the balance features human causes right at the beginning. The causes and consequences of tropical deforestation. Deforestationcauses, effects, and solutions futurism. In the preparation of a world map as a first systematic evaluation of the status of human induced soil degradation, glasod identified five different causes of human interventions that have resulted in soil degradation worldwide. These included agricultural loans, tax incentives, and road construction. Global perspectives on sustainable forest management, 2012. Forest degradation is land degradation which 7 occurs in forest land.
The royal society state there is still some uncertainty on the size of future temperature fluctuations and other aspects of climate change however the risks associated with these. Deforestation, the clearing or thinning of forests by humans. Download deforestation pdf file download the junior version pdf file. Land use changes, especially in the form of deforestation, are the second largest anthropogenic source of atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, after fossil fuel combustion. Widespread deforestation can contribute to drought especially in regions where rainfall is formed by local water cycles. There is a clear correlation between deforestation and the prices of soybean. Tobacco is also not recorded as a major cause of deforestation in india. Pressures and threats to nature related to human activities.
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