Deforestation

Can you picture the world without the tropics? Without rainforests? This is what we are on our way to seeing, thanks to logging: the deforestation of land. Deforestation not only causes the loss of our precious forests, but it also causes the destruction of land, species extinction, and loss of necessary and potentially helpful resources.

The biggest problem associated with logging is the destruction of land. Swidden,

or slash-and-burn farming, is the biggest contributor to this. Farmers have cultivated

rainforest soil by cutting down all the trees in one area, then burning them so the nutrients

will diffuse into the soil (Deforestation... 66). This technique, however, is only effective

for a few years before the soil gives out, and then, the farmer has to move on to another

plot of land. Swidden has been used for thousands of years and is generally harmless on a

small scale, but when more and more farmers move into the forest to practice this

slash-and-burn farming, the forest has no real chance to regrow before it's cut down again.

This practice has become the largest cause of deforestation in the Western Hemisphere

and in Asia (Deforestation... 67). The next leading cause of land destruction is soil

erosion, which is brought on by deforestation. It increases the amount of water runoff,

causing the soil to have less protection from tree litter. Many years ago, the Loess Plateau

in China was cleared of its forests. Since then, the land has been eroding, which has

created "dramatically incised valleys" (Deforestation... 67). It has also provided the

sediment that makes the Yellow River yellow and causes the flooding of the river, giving it

the nickname of 'China's Sorrow.' Soil erosion also makes farming more difficult. The

rain washes away most of the soil's nutrients and minerals, leaving behind lateritic soil,

which is full of iron and aluminum oxides and is very difficult to cultivate (Soil Erosion).

Once again, because of farmers' shortsightedness, they hurt themselves as well as

destroying the land. Another cause of land destruction is deforestation itself.

While most

of the deforestation, 60% in fact, in the tropics is from farming and ranching, deforestation is also used for economical reasons in products such as timber and fuelwood. 26% of logging is for timber and wood products while fuelwood accounts for another 14%

(Deforestation... 66). This not only causes soil damage and erosion, but also the

extinction and endangerment of countless plant and animal species.

Another major consequence of logging is plant and animal species extinction.

Tropical rainforests contain the largest number of life forms on the planet, possibly as

many as 50 million. Up to hundred species become extinct everyday, with tropical

deforestation being the major cause (Deforestation... 68). Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson states, "The resultant loss of biodiversity is the single greatest threat to life on this planet." He may be right. Biodiversity provides the planet with "genetic flexibility." This gives organisms the ability to survive by adapting to changing conditions in the biosphere(Deforestation... 68). Therefore, organisms can change because they have other food

sources; however, as these are lost, so are the possibilities for adaptation. Australia is

another good example of species extinction. Up to 40% of Australia's land is covered in

forest, and while almost everything possible is being done to stop logging, it is still an

ongoing problem in species extinction. The Australian government lost their control over

deforestation on private land and also in some of the forests, and since then, 17 mammals,

three birds, and one lizard species have become extinct. Deforestation causes the

clearance of the species' native habitat and vegetation, which results in the loss of many

species, creating great hazards (Biodiversity). Studies that show that one out of every

eight plant species is faced with extinction. This puts the loss at thousands of extinctions

per year. Studies also show that the increasing rates of extinction are due to the 'human

consumption of organic resources.' Most of the species that are becoming extinct aren't

our food species, but when their habitat is transformed into pasture and farm land, their

biomass is converted into human food. As more species are made extinct, the global

ecosystem becomes less stable, which will eventually lead to a total collapse, if the

ecosystem continues to lose it's complexity (Wildlife). As a result, we, like many other

species, are facing extinction if something is not done to put a stop to it. An example of

recent animal extinction is the Alagoas Curassow. This bird originated in Brazil and has

become extinct in the wild because of deforestation (Extinctions Today). Currently, there are two captive populations, but reintroducing them into the wild is next to impossible.

Deforestation not only harms the land and the many species we have on our planet, it also

directly harms us.

Deforestation is also causing a loss of potential resources for humans. Many

resources found in the rainforest have been used in modern medicine. In fact, one fourth

of raw material used in drugs today comes from rainforests, and they are believed to

contain many more as well (Deforestation... 68). However, the continual destruction of

these tropical forests may destroy these medicines or even lifesaving products before they

are discovered. There may even be a potential cure for cancer or some other major,

life-threatening disease somewhere in the rain forest that will never be discovered because

of the destruction of the land. There are also wild plant species which could be bred with

other species to strengthen the plant's resistance to disease (Deforestation... 68). Other potential resources we all know about are paper and wood. We use paper everyday that

comes from trees in the rainforest or from other forested areas around the world that are

or are becoming victims of deforestation. Wood and timber is also used everyday in the

building of shelter or bridges that are a vital necessity to the way we live and function.

Without these vital resources, how are we to survive? We may be looking at a

catastrophe if this destruction continues (Economic Reasons). Carbon release is another

huge factor in deforestation. Photosynthesis is the process where light is changed into

food by plants, but it is also the process where the carbon dioxide that is released into the

atmosphere is changed into oxygen: a vital resource for humans and all other living

creatures (Carbon Release). The more carbon and less oxygen there is in the air, the less

life forms can be sustained. In the 1990s, Australia had a carbon dioxide average of 20%

in its atmosphere. After ten years of logging and deforestation, that average has doubled.

The life cycle depends on balance in nature, and if that is destroyed, so is life on this planet

as we know it (Carbon Release). However, if we're lucky, we'll find a way to salvage

what we have.

Deforestation is the cause of many destructive problems. The destruction of land,

species extinction, and the loss of necessary and potentially helpful resources are just of

few of them. Without land, biodiversity, and necessary resources, hopes of survival are

slim to none. Swidden, soil erosion, species extinction, and more CO2 will always be a

leading cause in the degradation of this planet. However, if the proper means are taken to prevent the total destruction of our land, we might be able to salvage what we have left of

our environment.