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Lexi Wright

Klimas

English Pre-Ap, P. 5

16 January 2018

Deforestation

“Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet.” Facts, Information, and Effects | National

Geographic, 25 July 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-

warming/deforestation/.

“Editorial: Safeguarding Forests Could Halve Cost of Fixing Climate.” The Guardian, Guardian

News and Media, 14 Oct. 2008, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/oct/15/climate-

change-deforestation.

Robbins, Jim. “Opinion | Deforestation and Drought.” The New York Times, The New York

Times, 9 Oct. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/opinion/sunday/deforestation-and-

drought.html.

In the editorial “Deforestation and Drought” by Jim Robbins the issue of deforestation is

discussed. The author speaks about how deforestation has many effects, including ones that most

people do not know about. On Earth many things in the environment are linked and can

adversely affect each other. An example of this is deforestation because it is linked to many other

things that go on in the environment. For instance, many people believe that deforestation and
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climate change go hand in hand. Many experts believe that deforestation has already altered the

world’s climate significantly. With all things in ecosystems being linked, the problem of

deforestation gets greater. This is because when trees are cut down, it is now known that more is

affected and at a larger scale, even if it can not be seen. Not only does not having trees affect the

ecosystems and the environment but having trees does, too. For instance, large forests play a

crucial role in generating dependable amounts of rainfall. Trees take up moisture and transpire it,

this lifts it into the atmosphere. This ultimately creates clouds that are water rich. These clouds of

water are important to many ecosystems and without the trees both ecosystems would fail. An

example of an ecosystem dependent on these clouds, as stated in the editorial, is Bolivia and

Brazil. Both of these countries are dependent upon the moisture built up in the clouds that will

eventually bump into the Andes and cause rain for the two countries. However, this necessary

process would not be possible without the Amazon rainforest, and deforestation would hurt the

ecosystems due to this reason.

In the editorial, Robbins also discusses how some people believe that deforestation is

causing drought.This is due to the fact that the forests bring water into the atmosphere and create

clouds full of water that will eventually be rain needed by crops in other areas. For example, in

Brazil drought is thought to be caused by the large-scale deforestation of the Amazon rainforest

that creates the clouds of water that eventually turns to rain and is much needed by Brazil.

Scientists have long known that vegetation had an effect on the weather, what they didn't know

was how cutting down a few trees could ruin a whole ecosystem because everything in the

environment is intertwined. This phenomenon is not only seen near by the Amazon rainforest,

but it is seen farther away like in the United States. A Princeton study suggested that

deforestation in the Amazon could contribute to droughts in areas farther away, like California. It
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may also be linked to droughts in Texas and New Mexico. The editorial then goes on to suggest

that in order to save the whole environment we must stop deforestation and try to fix what has

been messed up. For instance, we need to start large-scale planting of new forests that way we

can try to bring some trees back. While many people and scientists believe that deforestation is a

problem, some people believe that without deforestation the economy would suffer because we

would be restricted to where we could plant crops and have industries. The editorial goes on to

explain that the health of the climate systems depends upon the health of the forests and that

without the forets all ecosystems would suffer, adversely making us suffer.

“Tropical Deforestation : Feature Articles.” NASA, NASA,

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/deforestation_update3.php

In NASA’s article, the issue of deforestation is discussed. Deforestation is the clearing of

forests on a massive scale. This has been occurring for thousands of years for various reasons,

such as for land for crops and land for livestock. Deforestation is an issue because of the

globalization of the economy in which all economies, of many different nations are dependent on

one another. This causes developing countries to have to not only meet the needs of their own

country but the needs of other countries as well. This causes the developing countries to have a

greater demand to produce. This adversely causes deforestation because the farmers need more

land for crops and livestock to keep up with the national and global demand. The single biggest

direct cause of deforestation is conversion to croplands and pastures, for the reason of providing.

However, the government has many other reasons for clearing forests. For instance, countries

build roads to remote areas to improve overland transportation of goods. The government is
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willing to cut down acres of forest because they see it as a greater good. At times activities seen

as necessary for the economy cause deforestation. Many commercial industries play a role in

this. One industry that goes along with this is cattle ranching. Cattle ranching causes

deforestation because the ranchers need space for the cattle to roam so they cut down trees to

make that space. Another example is biofuels in Indonesia because they convert the tropical trees

in order to get the biofuels. Some people believe that deforestation is sometimes necessary if it

can help the overall economy.

There are many effects from deforestation, as stated in the article by NASA. These

effects are negative and hurt the ecosystems and environment that is depended upon. One of the

effects of deforestation is climate change. Due to the decrease in the number of trees, less carbon

is taken in by trees. Ultimately this leads to an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the

atmosphere which causes the Earth to warm, otherwise known as global warming. Another effect

is an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is a negative effect because with more

greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the more heat is trapped in the atmosphere which adversely

heats up the Earth. The most prominent effect is on the animals that live within the forests.

Forests are the habitats to many animals and plants. The whole ecosystem is dependent upon

each other. If one part of the ecosystem is taken away the whole ecosystem will crumble. So

when the trees in forests are cut down, all the animals and plants that are dependent on them are

affected. For instance, many birds build nests in trees, so when they cut down the tree they are

also cutting down the bird’s habitat. Also, the trees provide shade to the jungle floor so plants

that are adapted to the limited sunlight would suddenly be exposed to a large amount of light

when the forests are cut down. One little thing removed or added to an ecosystem can make the

whole thing crumble, killing most of the inhabitants along with it.This makes deforestation very
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important because it not only kills the forest but the plants and animals that are in the ecosystem

along with it.