Forest Reasons Forests Are Destroyed

FOREST
Reasons forests are destroyed

The World Bank estimates that about 3.9 million square miles (10 million square km) of
forest have been lost since the beginning of the 20th century. In the past 25 years,
forests shrank by 502,000 square miles (1.3 million square km) — an area bigger than
the size of South Africa. In 2018, The Guardian reported that every second, a chunk of
forest equivalent to the size of a soccer field is lost.
Often, deforestation occurs when forested area is cut and cleared to make way for
agriculture or grazing. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) reports that just four
commodities are responsible for tropical deforestation: beef, soy, palm oil and wood
products. UCS estimates that an area the size of Switzerland (14,800 square miles, or
38,300 square km) is lost to deforestation every year.
Natural fires in tropical forests tend to be rare but intense. Human-lit fires are commonly
used to clear land for agricultural use. First, valuable timber is harvested, then the
remaining vegetation is burned to make way for crops like soy or cattle grazing. In 2019,
the number of human-lit fires in Brazil skyrocketed. As of August 2019, more than
80,000 fires burned in the Amazon, an increase of almost 80% from 2018, National
Geographic reported.
Many forests are cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. Palm oil is the most
commonly produced vegetable oil and is found in half of all supermarket products. It's
cheap, versatile and can be added to both food and personal products like lipsticks and
shampoo. Its popularity has spurred people to clear tropical forests to grow more palm
trees. Growing the trees that produce the oil requires the leveling of native forest and
the destruction of local peatlands — which doubles the harmful effect on the ecosystem.
According to a report published by Zion Market Research, the global palm oil market
was valued at $65.73 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $92.84 billion in 2021.
Effects of deforestation
Forests can be found from the tropics to high-latitude areas. They are home to 80% of
terrestrial biodiversity, containing a wide array of trees, plants, animals and microbes,
according to the World Bank, an international financial institution. Some places are
especially diverse — the tropical forests of New Guinea, for example, contain more than
6% of the world's species of plants and animals.
Forests provide more than a home for a diverse collection of living things; they are also
an important resource for many around the world. In countries like Uganda, people rely
on trees for firewood, timber and charcoal. Over the past 25 years, Uganda has lost
63% of its forest cover, Reuters reported. Families send children — primarily girls — to
collect firewood, and kids have to trek farther and farther to get to the trees. Collecting
enough wood often takes all day, so the children miss school.
According to a 2018 FAO report, three-quarters of the Earth’s freshwater comes from
forested watersheds, and the loss of trees can affect water quality. The UN's 2018 State
of the World's Forests report found that over half the global population relies on forested
watersheds for their drinking water as well as water used for agriculture and industry.
Related: The Latest Deforestation News Stories
Deforestation in tropical regions can also affect the way water vapor is produced over
the canopy, which causes reduced rainfall. A 2019 study published in the
journal Ecohydrology showed that parts of the Amazon rainforest that were converted to
agricultural land had higher soil and air temperatures, which can exacerbate drought
conditions. In comparison, forested land had rates of evapotranspiration that were about
three times higher, adding more water vapor to the air.
Trees also absorb carbon dioxide, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions produced by
human activity. As climate change continues, trees play an important role in carbon
sequestration, or the capture and storage of excess carbon dioxide. Tropical trees alone
are estimated to provide about 23% of the climate mitigation that's needed to offset
climate change, according to the World Resources Institute, a nonprofit global research
institute.
Deforestation not only removes vegetation that is important for removing carbon dioxide
from the air, but the act of clearing the forests also produces greenhouse gas
emissions. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says that
deforestation is the second-leading cause of climate change. (The first is the burning of
fossil fuels.) In fact, deforestation accounts for nearly 20% of greenhouse gas
emissions.
Deforestation solutions
Developing alternatives to deforestation can help decrease the need for tree clearing.
For example, the desire to expand the amount of land used for agriculture is an
attractive reason to deforest an area. But if people adopted sustainable farming
practices or employed new farming technologies and crops, the need for more land
might be diminished, according to the Deforestation solutions
Developing alternatives to deforestation can help decrease the need for tree clearing.
For example, the desire to expand the amount of land used for agriculture is an
attractive reason to deforest an area. But if people adopted sustainable farming
practices or employed new farming technologies and crops, the need for more land
might be diminished, according to the UN's Sustainable Forest Management Toolbox.
Forests can also be restored, through replanting trees in cleared areas or simply
allowing the forest ecosystem to regenerate over time. The goal of restoration is to
return the forest to its original state, before it was cleared, according to the U.S. Forest
Service. The sooner a cleared area is reforested, the quicker the ecosystem can start to
repair itself. Afterward, wildlife will return, water systems will reestablish, carbon will be
sequestered and soils will be replenished.
Everyone can do their part to curb deforestation. We can buy certified wood products,
go paperless whenever possible, limit our consumption of products that use palm oil
and plant a tree when possible.
Additional resources:
 Check out this animation of deforestation in the Amazon made with images from
NASA's Landsat 5 and 7 satellites.
 Learn more about forest conservation efforts from the Yale School of Forestry &
Environmental Studies.
 Read more about the problems caused by deforestation according to the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Forests can also be restored, through replanting trees in cleared areas or simply
allowing the forest ecosystem to regenerate over time. The goal of restoration is to
return the forest to its original state, before it was cleared, according to the U.S. Forest
Service. The sooner a cleared area is reforested, the quicker the ecosystem can start to
repair itself. Afterward, wildlife will return, water systems will reestablish, carbon will be
sequestered and soils will be replenished.
Everyone can do their part to curb deforestation. We can buy certified wood products,
go paperless whenever possible, limit our consumption of products that use palm oil
and plant a tree when possible.
Additional resources:
Check out this animation of deforestation in the Amazon made with images from
NASA's Landsat 5 and 7 satellites.
Learn more about forest conservation efforts from the Yale School of Forestry &
Environmental Studies.
Read more about the problems caused by deforestation according to the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature.

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Reasons forests are destroyed

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