EFFECT OF DEFORESTATION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

EFFECT OF DEFORESTATION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

One of the contributors to climate change is deforestation. Deforestation refers to permanent removal of soil cover, especially the trees, to create space for something else other than the forest itself. Such activities that result in deforestation may include livestock ranching, wildfire, and logging for timber or agricultural precise cutting. These are among many more human activities that might lead to the permanent removal of the vegetation. According to the world life fund, the earth’s land surface is approximately one-third of it covered by forest. Billions and billions of human beings and wild animals benefit primarily from the forest in terms of medicine, fuel, and food. Forest is a resource; though this, there are those undeveloped areas that human being has decided to covert for other purposes such as grazing and agriculture activities.

Today, the areas that were sometimes inaccessible are now easily accessed by people resulting in increased deforestation.

Deforestation is one of the factors that have resulted in climate change. Burning biomass, to some instances, is advantageous, but when it is done on a large scale, it might cause some negative impacts. NASA estimates that the natural fires contribute to 10% of the biomass as compared to the total biomass burned by human beings, which amounts to 90% of the total number. When the fire is burned, it produces carbon dioxide gas that otherwise results in the greenhouse gas. The impacts of the greenhouse are on climate and earth atmosphere. Vegetation acts as the primary regulator for carbon dioxide by observing it through the process of photosynthesis.

As the burning of the vegetation occurs, there is the release of an enormous amount of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere in a matter of a few minutes. In a case where the vegetation is not replaced, it means the carbon dioxide with result in the formation of greenhouse gases that otherwise lead to global climate change. It is predicted that one of the most significant sources of greenhouse gases is as a result of deforestation that occurs in different parts of the world. Furth more, plants around the world have the potential of storing double the total amount of carbon dioxide than the one stored in the atmosphere. This implies that when deforestation occurs, the amount of carbon dioxide that otherwise would have been consumed by the plants is instead released to the atmosphere.

Urban sprawl is increasingly moving to most of our forested area; the impact of this is contributing to climate change as well as threatening the natural biodiversity and the environment. According to a study carried out, it is evident that urban sprawl could consume thousands of hectares in the next few years, triggering the production of carbon dioxide that will endanger hundreds of species. Furthermore, increased expansion to the forested areas, particularly the rainforests, reduces biodiversity. Increased rate of climate change coupled with the decrease in the diversity will not only divert the ecology of the land itself and the way the land is used but will increase the chances for the success of persistent species, that only accelerate the environment changes in the environment.

Lastly, deforestation affects the water cycle. When we cut down trees, it decreases the quantity of transpiration. It’s through transpiration that the leaves of trees are able to secrete water into the atmosphere that later becomes cloud, swells and the rain back down. Increased deforestation will reduce the amount of rainfall in our areas, and on a long time basis, this might result in a drought. Rainforests and forests all over the world are at risk. Although deforestation is on the rise, there is a need to make some local and global changes to secure the existence of our forest. Lets everyone take action and prevent our forest.