Causes of deforestation are the forces that motivate the agents to clear the forests. Basic concepts of deforestation, degradation, and fragmentation 2. The first form of agriculture that will be examined is slashandburn agriculture. According to michael daley, an associate professor of environmental science at lasell college in newton, massachusetts, the no. If theyre not reforested, they inevitably end up as wastelands directly from soil erosion and desertification. Deforestation is considered to be one of the contributing factors to global climate change. Most of the clearing is done for agricultural purposesgrazing cattle, planting crops. Mar 07, 2016 floods are a powerful force on our planet. This section looks at a deforestation definition, causes of deforestation, effects of deforestation, solutions to deforestation and deforestation facts. According to fao, deforestation is the conversion of.
To explore the heterogeneous nature of drivers of deforestation across different landscapes of potential interest, we repeat this process using the proportion of deforestation in each size class across. When it rains, trees absorb and store a large amount of water with the help of their roots. Climate change is a term that refers to major changes in temperature, rainfall, snow, or wind patterns lasting for decades or longer. Why deforestation happens deforestation occurs in many ways. Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to nonforest land use such as arable land, urban use, logged area or wasteland.
Indeed some 31 countries do not even make the list because they have already removed most of their forests and even if that remain are seriously fragmented and degraded. Humaninduced deforestation is causing an increase in. Natural factors include natural forest fires or parasitecaused diseases which can result in. Pakistan is not selfsufficient in wood based products and spends billions of rupees on import of wood and wood based products. Overview of the deforestation process in the philippines. Habitat fragmentation is frequently caused y humans when native vegetation is cleared for human activities such as agriculture, rural development or urbanization. Deforestation is has a result of the interaction of environmental, social, cultural and political forces in a given region. In natural systems, floods play an important role in ecosystem functioning, such as by recharging groundwater systems, filling wetlands, and the promotion of breeding, migration, and dispersal of numerous species 1. Deforestation and forest degradation represent a significant fraction of the annual worldwide humaninduced emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, the main source of biodiversity losses. Harvesting, forest fires, and insect infestations do not count as deforestation because the affected areas will eventually grow back. Deforestation has even been caused by extensive warthroughout history fire has often been used to deprive the enemy of necessary resources. The latest deforestation news is included at the foot of the page. Deforestation leads to land erosion because the trees maintain the surface of the mountains. It is a serious environmental concern since it can result in the loss of biodiversity, damage to natural habitats, disturbances in the water cycle, and soil erosion.
Deforestation deforestation regrowth undisturbed forest forest fragments figure 1. According to united nations food and agriculture organization fao, we lose over 7 million hectares of forest every year. Deforestation, the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses, is considered to be a contributing factor to global climate change. Mar 08, 2017 deforestation is an act of opening a land in the forest by cutting or burning trees, so that the land can be used for something else nonforest use, such as fields, farms, or building new urban area. Climate mitigation, deforestation and human development in brazil. According to some estimates, more than 50 percent of the tree cover has disappeared due to human activity. Whenever forest fires are experienced, thousands of acres of trees and vegetation cover are wiped out. However, the trees on our planet are being depleted at a very fast rate.
It can also happen gradually as a result of ongoing forest degradation as temperatures rise due to climate change caused by human activity. Pdf impacts of humaninduced deforestation, forest degradation. According to fao, deforestation is the conversion of forest to another land use or the longterm reduction of tree canopy cover below the 10% threshold. The three main causes of deforestation in the world are. Community resistance to land grabs and forest clearing frequently results in violence being used against them, including. There is a clear linkages between deforestation and worlds demands of fiber, food, and fuel understanding the underlying or indirect causes of deforestation is crucial to address redd and climate change most deforestation is driven from outside forestry sector e. The degradation of land in one form or the other is matter of serious concern endangering. Competition between humans and other species for the remaining ecological niches on land and in coastal regions. The human causes of deforestation in southeast asia authors.
Typically, deforestation is clearing a lot of trees without the intention of establishing future growth. Mar 30, 2007 tropical forests are home to half the earths species, and their trees are an immense standing reservoir of carbon. When the trees and other vegetation in an area are gone. Almost every year, forests fires are witnessed across different forest region on earth which persistently affects the economy and biodiversity. May 22, 2017 the analytic research strategy used also allowed the authors to look at the causes of deforestation, in order to have a broader focus on the upstream or human induced causes of landuse change. The problems of converting forest areas for agriculture, fuelwood, and industrial logging are clues to more fundamental factors problems of population pressure, unemployment, and inequitable land tenure. Although humans have been practicing deforestation since ages, it was in the mid1800s that forests began to be destroyed at an unprecedented rate. The drivers of tropical deforestation can be summed up as complex socioeconomic processes that are impossible to isolate a single cause. Forests fires may arise on the account of natural, accidental, and human causes. Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to utilize the land or trees. Some 36 football fields of forests are hacked, burned, and destroyed every minute. Population growth is a major hindrance to attainment of sustainable development. Deforestation on a human scale results in decline in biodiversity, and on a natural global scale is known to cause the extinction of many species.
Human rights impacts of deforestation closing the gap. The rise of industrialization has worsened the problem with deforestation. The conversion of forests into agricultural plantations is a major cause of deforestation. However, most of the existing literature typically distinguishes between two levels of specific factors. Causes of climate change united states environmental. Forests are being cut down at much larger scale than ever before, to be used as fuel, to provide products we use in our daily life, or to simply create more space for agriculture to sustain growing human population. Deforestation facts and information national geographic.
Human rights impacts of deforestation alongside major environmental and climate impacts, aggressive largescale deforestation is causing multiple and severe human rights violations with devastating impacts on forest peoples figure 1. The causes attributed to deforestation are multivariate in nature, interrelated and differ at local, national as well as regional scale. Causes, effects and control strategies 5 deforestation are maintained. Causes of deforestation in pakistan is open for the scholarship allows level programms in the field of taught at the deadline of the scholarhip is.
Chopping down of trees disrupts the flow of water and leads to floods in some areas. The changes in area of forest by region and subregion are shown in table 1. Humandriven and natural loss of treesdeforestationaffects wildlife, ecosystems, weather patterns, and even the climate. Multiple factors, either of human or natural origin, cause deforestation. After deforestation, the land can now be used for ranches, farms or also for urban purposes.
The increase of mining on tropical forests is furthering damage due to the rising demand and high mineral prices. Illegal logging is the primary cause of deforestation. We focus here on deforestation and human development dynamics among 211 small and mediumsized municipalities in terms of population in the amazonian arc of deforestation, brazil. It consists of a complex of social, political, economic. Pdf on apr 25, 2012, sumit chakravarty and others published deforestation. Penny encyclopedia of life support systems eolss the situation in africa is particularly acute, but even the densely populated asian and pacific regions contain roughly 1. Learn about the manmade and natural causes of deforestationand how. In this example, the pat variables do not correlate strongly figure 1. Deforestation and forest degradation represent a significant fraction of the annual worldwide human induced emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, the main source of biodiversity losses. All of these causes, along with deforestation, lead to the loss of vegetation in the area.
The following points highlight the five main impacts of agriculture on environment. Causes, effects and control strategies find, read and cite all. The dark areas are forest, the white is deforested areas, and the gray is regrowth. Deforestation is almost completely caused by human activity. Causes and drawbacks essay 4 400 words deforestation is the process of cutting down of trees and forests completely or partially for different reasons like manufacturing different products with various parts of the tree as raw material, to build structures and other buildings, etc. Climate mitigation, deforestation and human development in brazil giulio volpi 2 1. The human causes of deforestation in southeast asia. What is forest degradation and what are various causes of it. Although tropical forests are largely confined to developing countries, they arent just meeting local or national needs. The water level of the rivers increases suddenly, causing floods. The analytic research strategy used also allowed the authors to look at the causes of deforestation, in order to have a broader focus on the upstream or. Even taking into account natural disasters such as hurricanes or wild fires, humans are accountable for almost all deforestation on the planet, which amounts to a whopping 1.
Essay on deforestation causes, effects, and solutions. We already know that forests support sustainability in the earth, because forests dont only serve as a facility to produce foods, but also. With each forest clearing, we lose about 5 species of animals, plants. Human activities as agricultural expansion, cattle breeding, timber extraction, mining, oil extraction, dam construction and infrastructure development. The increase in global demand for commodities, such as palm oil and soybeans, are driving industrialscale producers to clear forests at an alarming rate. Deforestation cause by human overpopulation as the human population continues to grow, there is an obvious need for more food. Deforestation will have increasingly serious consequences for biodiversity, humans, and climate. Apr 29, 2019 deforestation is one of the leading human causes of desertification. Slashand burn agriculture can be a sound agricultural practice in many instances, and has long been practiced by. Deforestation in recent days has become the curse of our world that resulted in the. Natural causes as hurricanes, fires, parasites and floods.
Deforestation can be defined as the largescale removal of trees from forests or other lands for the facilitation of human activities. Deforestation is the cutting down of trees from an area with no intention of establishing a future stand of trees. Humaninduced deforestation is causing an increase in malaria. Pdf on jan 1, 2015, temidayo olagunju and others published impacts.
Concluding remarks there is a clear linkages between deforestation and worlds demands of fiber, food, and fuel understanding the underlying or indirect causes of deforestation is crucial to address redd and climate change most deforestation is driven from outside forestry sector e. Much of the current research into this area concentrates on emissions from industry and households. Both humanmade and natural factors contribute to climate change. Executive summary climate change mitigation in developing countries is a growing priority for many governments. Due to deforestation, the removal of trees causes sloped lands to be more susceptible to landslides. Direct causes people have been deforesting the earth for thousands of years, primarily to clear land for crops or livestock. In natural ecosystems, there is a lot of resiliency to the majority of flood events. Deforestation causes can either be direct or indirect. Wood is still a popular fuel choice for cooking and heating around the world, and about half of the illegal removal of timber from forests is thought to be for use as fuelwood.