Introduction to deforestation

Deforestation

Introduction to deforestation

Deforestation is defined by as the cutting down and removal of all or most of the trees in a

forested area. Deforestation results from removal of trees without sufficient reforestation this

process alters the hydrologic cycle, altering the amount of water in the soil and groundwater

and the moisture in the atmosphere. Deforestation can erode soils, contribute to

desertification and the pollution of waterways, and decrease biodiversity through the

destruction of habitat. Deforestation is considered to be a main contributor to the greenhouse

effect. Some of the major environmental problems related with deforestation are lowering

biodiversity, desiccation of soil that used to be moist, increase in temperature extremes, less

recycling of water, global warming, more desertification, and soil erosion. Forests support

considerable biodiversity, providing valuable habitat for wildlife. In this website, the

environmental ethics of deforestation will be evaluated in terms of facts, technical issues,

leadership issues, and ethical issues.

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 is lost each and every year (National Geographic). 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. Farmers cut forests to

provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock. Often many small farmers will

each clear a few acres to feed their families by cutting down trees and burning them in a

process known as “slash and burn” agriculture.

Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also cut

countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access

more and more remote forests—which lead to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a

result of growing urban sprawl. Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a

combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and subsequent overgrazing, which

may prevent the growth of young trees.

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Deforestation

The effects of Deforestation

Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic

impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species (National Geographic). Biodiversity is

lowered because animals that use the trees as a food or shelter source are unable to survive

without them or may have to make serious adaptations to continue to thrive. Some animals

or plant species are forced to move to another area or even become extinct. Seventy percent

of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation

that destroys their homes.

Deforestation also drives climate change. The temperature extremes increase greatly

because trees provide shade and shaded areas provide moderate temperatures. Without the

shade of the trees, high extremes can go from 98 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit during the day

and low extremes can go from 60 to 30 degrees at night. Forest soils are moist, but without

protection from sun-blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. The soil becomes desiccated

because the moist soil that was once shaded by treetops becomes overly exposed to the sun

once the trees are gone. This makes the soil highly uninviting for plant life and animals.

Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the

atmosphere. The recycling of water can become less frequent and less plentiful because the

moisture that evaporates from the ocean, precipitates onto trees in forests, and then transpire

through leaves back into the atmosphere, without the leaves on trees this process is

completely altered. Deforestation affects global warming because studies have shown that

deforestation is responsible for up to ten percent of greenhouse gas emissions, these

emissions cause heat to be trapped in the air, and thus gradually raise the average

temperatures.


Deforestation

Ethical Issues

We as human beings may not understand the severity of the possible consequences

that deforestation poses. Since deforestation has had no severe effect on us yet, we ignore the

problem. Everywhere you go, you see pieces of paper on the ground, people using multiple

tissues to wipe their noses, and countless people pulling excessive amounts of brown paper

out of the paper towel dispensers in lavatories. These are just few of the sources of paper that

we use each day, without any thought whatsoever.

What we must realize is that the paper products we use daily could have been a part of

a forest which functioned to enrich and hold soil, absorb carbon dioxide, collect and recycle

water, release oxygen, and regulate climate. Some companies do plant trees to produce the

kinds of the products needed by industry to spare the older forests but many do not. By

wasting paper products, we are wasting forests. The simple fact is that the more paper we use,

the more forests need to be cut down to serve our paper needs.

By destroying animal and people’s homes, we are cheating ourselves out of having a

more diverse world. Flooding will cause billions upon billions of dollars in repairs; and those

repairs will most likely be done by the good old U.S., with our tax dollars. If the temperature

rises a bit, this will throw Mother Nature totally off course. It will affect farming, the tourism

industry, travel, sea levels, and much more. If what Myers found is correct and 25% of

medicines come form the rain forests, then there is a big change that with modern

technologies that many more could be found.

Without knowing what is being destroyed, we might not be missing out on just a few

new medicines. We might be killing our chances of finding the cures for diseases such as

Cancer, Aids, Multiple Sclerosis, or a multitude of others. And if by chance we lose all of the

nutrients in the soil because of soil erosion, cultivation will be next to impossible. After

thinking about these consequences, try convincing anyone that the ramifications of

deforestation will not prove to be quite disastrous.

Forests were put on Earth for a reason; they help to maintain a delicate balance

between all of nature’s elements. By destroying forests through ranching, logging, farming,

industrial practice, etc., we are putting this delicate balance in jeopardy. There is no cure for


Deforestation

deforestation. Many people talk of reforestation; however that is just not a true solution.

Although replanting the forests that have been destroyed seems like a good idea, it actually

does no good. Often times the new trees are not the same species as the originals. Also, by

the time the trees grow and mature, the soil has already lost much of the nutrients it once had.

Old forests and new forests are not the same and it is the old forests that need to be protected.

The ethics of desertification reflects extremely diluted responsibilities. Since the Bronze Age

in the Mediterranean Basin, for example, up to the present (such as in Spain), farmers have

tried in numerous ways to eke out a hard living in arid lands. Some people would lay blame

primarily on government planning agencies for overirrigation and groundwater depletion,

salinization, and other impacts of population density and tourism in arid regions. However, in

any particular case it is difficult to lay too much blame on individual agents, although some

environmental ethicists would blame a culture that is and has been for centuries heedless of

impacts on arid lands.

In regard to science, technology, and rehabilitation/restoration projects such as those of UNEP/CCD,

it may be too early to tell whether they will be effective in the long run against what is widely

perceived to be rapidly advancing desertification


Deforestation

Technical Issues

Forests have already disappeared in many parts of the world and deforestation rates

worldwide during the 1980s were as high as 15 million hectares per year for tropical forests

alone. In most parts of the world deforestation accelerated during the 1990s. The destruction

of large areas of forest can be done at a faster rate now than in previous years. Technology

and machinery like bulldozers, tractors, electric and manual saws, geometric mapping

technology, dump trucks, freight liners, and other devises are used to quickly take out trees

for the purpose of creating revenue for many industrial companies and organizations.

Other causes of Deforestation

Conversion of forests and woodlands to agricultural land to feed growing

numbers of people.

Development of cash crops and cattle ranching, both of which earn money for

tropical countries.

Commercial logging (which supplies the world market with woods such as

meranti, teak, mahogany and ebony) destroys trees as well as opening up forests for

agriculture.

Felling of trees for firewood and building material; the heavy lopping of foliage

for fodder; and heavy browsing of saplings by domestic animals like goats.

The largest cause as of 2006 is slash-and-burn activity in tropical forests.[citation

needed] Slash-and-burn is a method sometimes used by shifting cultivators to create short

term yields from marginal soils. When practiced repeatedly, or without intervening fallow

periods, the nutrient poor soils may be exhausted or eroded to an unproductive state. Slash-

and-burn techniques are used by native populations of over 200 million people worldwide.

While short-sighted, market-driven forestry practices are often one of the leading cause of

forest degradation, the principal human-related causes of deforestation are agriculture and


Deforestation

livestock grazing, urban sprawl, and mining and petroleum extraction. Growing worldwide

demand for wood to be used for fire wood or in construction, paper and furniture - as well as

clearing land for commercial and industrial development (including road construction) have

combined with growing local populations and their demands for agricultural expansion and

wood fuel to endanger ever larger forest areas.

If deforestation continues at the rate that it is going now and continues to increase the

way it has been, it could mean horrendous things for the future of our planet. Some of the big

changes would be the formation of mostly desert- like regions, unpredictable and highly

varied temperatures, great amounts of green house gases, very low biodiversity, extremely

nutrient deficient land, and noticeable less precipitation. These changes could completely

alter life as we know it, and not in a positive way. This should be enough cause for us to

want to revise our actions in terms of deforestation.


Deforestation

Ecological Discussion

It is difficult to imagine any direct negative ecological impacts from stopping all tropical

deforestation. Countless studies have documented the fact that any deforestation impacts

ecological systems.3 And even if the stop led to more deforestation in temperate areas,

northern-latitude tree removal is less likely to lead to land clearing for agriculture (though

this could change). The ecological impacts of plantation forests, on the other hand, depend

largely on how they are executed.4 Replacing the areas deforested since 1990 would have

predominantly positive ecological impacts assuming this was done with some care.

The following matrix summarizes the expected ecological impacts from this wedge.

SHORT-TERM LIFETIME INTERGENERATIONAL

LOCAL 0 + +

REGIONAL 0 + +

GLOBAL + + +

Social Discussion

Human health: People depend on forests for food, medicine, fuel, goods, and clean water. In the tropics, many people rely on forests for meat and vegetable foods. 5 Smoke from deforestation fires can travel long distances; Indonesian fires in 1997 were estimated to cause 16,400 infant and fetal deaths. 6 Forests contribute to cleaner ground and surface waters by filtering impurities.

Equity: Poor communities that live near forests bear the greatest impacts from deforestation, with urban dwellers being less reliant upon them 5,7

These poor communities do not see a significant financial return for deforestation.

Institutional barriers: Institutional barriers can be fairly significant. In countries with the

highest deforestation, such as Indonesia and Brazil, deforestation occurs in remote regions

often difficult to enter for enforcement purposes. Also, political will can be bent with bribes

and coercion. 8 Brazil is considering providing economic subsidies to low income illegal

loggers in the Amazon, and last May, the government passed the “Sustainable Amazon Plan”. 9,10 Although the UN recently adopted an international plan to protect the world’s forests, as is


Deforestation

often the case, the agreements not legally binding and thus not easily enforced. 11 In terms of

cultural institutions, many local and indigenous populations are in fact dependent upon

forests and have a stake in preventing deforestation. Increasingly, Incorporating local

stakeholders in forest management is undertaken to use this stake as leverage in sustaining

the forest. 12

Political barriers: These barriers can be some of the highest in Brazil, where proving land

ownership is quite difficult and leads to many land disputes where logging companies often

win out over poor locals. 13 Countries are reluctant to have their natural resources regulated

by international bodies (see above), leaving enforcement to national, state, and local

governments that often lack resources and political will for enforcement.

Informational barriers: In the literature, informational barriers are rarely cited as major

concerns, while institutional, political, and economic barriers are frequently blamed. 14 While

people involved in deforestation might not understand the implications for global warming,

there is certainly some understanding of disapproval, whether activities or legal or illegal.

Attempts at educating consumers via LEED certification (the U.S. Green Building Council)

and other avenues seem to be increasing, though arguably still have far to go. For its part, the

Forest Stewardship Council has been criticized heavily for its international timber

certificationmeasures.

Technological Discussion

As mentioned above, the causes of tropical deforestation can roughly be divided into three categories - agricultural expansion, timber extraction, and infrastructure expansion. Resultingly, technological challenges to implementing this wedge range from finding ways to produce meat and biofuels without destroying rainforests to developing systems for tracking timber from its source to ensure that it is legally and sustainably harvested.Due to the diffuse nature of this problem, one of the main challenges is simply tracking where tropical deforestation occurs. In 2005 a new method was developed to monitor deforestation in the Amazon15 focusing on selective logging.

The study found that up to 123% more forest had been damaged than previous reports. However, these methods need to be improved upon and applied to other areas. In addition, while monitoring deforestation can help inform policies, enforcement of existing laws and the removal of economic incentives for deforestation are also necessary.


Deforestation

With regards to forest plantations, little is known about the actual sequestration of carbon in plantations on previously agricultural lands, so it will be important to understand how these changes impact the carbon cycle before large scale changes are made.

In addition, again, assuming the plantations, for the near term, take place on previously forested areas that have since been converted to agriculture, alternative sources for these agricultural products (beef and biofuels, mostly) will need to be developed.

Financial Discussion

A 2008 report by Mongabay claims that GHG mitigation through increased use of biofuels

would cost 200 times more per unit of avoided GHG emission than would equal GHG

emission reductions achieved through avoided deforestation.16 It is uncertain, though, whether

such comparisons are valid because the GHGs whose re-emissions are avoided that are

avoided by using biofuels instead of petrol fuels have been sequestered from the atmosphere

for a longer time period than have the GHGs emitted as a consequence of deforestation. Thus,

one might conjecture that it would be easier to re-sequester emissions from deforestation (e.g.

regrow the trees) than it is to re-sequester petrol emissions (reform petroleum deposits). The

converse of this argument, however, is that the GHGs emitted by by the two sources are

chemically identical and thus have the exact same affect on earth's radiative balance, thus

they should be valued the same.

An additional problem with the financial aspect of this wedge is that the policies and

programs required to affect preservation of forest carbon stocks are not well developed.

Further, it is unclear whether policies that succeed in this goal in one region will have the

same impact and financial efficiency in other areas of the globe.17


Deforestation

Effects of Deforestation

Decrease in Forest Area & Biodiversity

Most concern, overall, is being given to Tropical Forests, and more specifically to Tropical Moist

forest areas. The reason is that Tropical Moist areas provide the best biodiversity and biomass

compared to any other type of forest. More species of animals and plants are found in this rich and

green ecosystem. Biodiversity is vital because the abundance of foods, fibers, medicines, and

industrial resources depend largely on the size and quality of Tropical Moist forest areas.

The importance of Biomass is addressed below in the section on carbon dioxide. The first figure

shows the overall extent of change in tropical forest area. This includes at least six subcategories of

tropical forest ecosystems. The intent of this page is to emphasize the necessity of preserving

tropical forest area due to the vital resources it provides.

The Carbon Dioxide Connection

Rainforests store a considerable amount of carbon. Clearing and burning them releases this

carbon as carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for the threat of global

warming. Increasing rainforest cover, rather than decreasing it as currently is occurring, could

help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. The major source of the increase in

carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not, however, the clearing of the rainforests. Rather, it is

the burning of fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas.

The key term used in understanding the overall health of global ecosystems is "biomass".

This term, relating to deforestation, is used to express the measurement of above-ground

density of forest by estimating volume per unit given. In other words, the thickness of forest

in a given area is being measured. A forest areas biomass is critical because the trees and

plants in a forest take in much of the world's carbon dioxide output. Therefore, the less

biomass a given forest area has, the less carbon dioxide it soaks up. The grim necessity can

be understood by interpreting the data in the table below


Deforestation

Conclusion

Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can quickly become barren

deserts. 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. This disruption leads to more extreme

temperatures swings that can be harmful to plants and animals. Trees also play a critical role

in absorbing the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming. Fewer forests mean larger

amounts of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere—and increased speed and severity of

global warming. The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down

trees. Though deforestation rates have slowed a bit in recent years, financial realities make

this unlikely to occur.
