Effects of Deforestation
The effects of deforestation are a tragic reality that the government seems to belittle and brush aside. By overestimating the benefits of forest exploitation, the government in turn under prices the true value of forest resources. The cycle of effects caused by deforestation take place as so: loss of fuelwood--means depriving soil of nutrition--leads to a receding forest--which causes an increase in rainfall--that increases risks of flooding and soil erosion. A loss of trees also emits a higher concentration of CO2 and other greenhouse gases that in effect increase the temperature. Deforestation also leads to a drier atmosphere that increases the risk of forest fires. As trees continue to get cut down, the watershed protection of the forest diminishes, leading to excess flooding and billions of dollars worth of damage. Deforestation effects the earth tremendously; leaving us with pollution due to an excessive amount of carbon dioxide in the air, soil erosion, stream erosion, loss of fisheries and water supply, as well as the loss of recreation.
Before deforestation, the fullness of the forest was evident as no gaps between trees were seen for miles and miles. After deforestation, the land becomes extremely dry, uninhabitable and useless.
Environmental Effects
Trees are cut down or burnt protect the soil from rain or wind which would otherwise blow it away. Although the images we have of forest are full of growth, most of the soils that support them are highly unproductive. High temperatures and rainfall throughout the year encourage leaching of nutrients from the soil, so that few nutrients remain except for those held by the plants themselves. Once forests are cleared for agriculture, grazing, or logging, there is no guarantee that the trees can grow back on the impoverished soil.
On a meso level:Forest ecosystems recycle the rainwater back to the atmosphere through evaporation from the soil and leaf surfaces and through transpiration from plants, a process that is very efficient and often called "rain machines" by ecologists. The rainfall patterns in the Amazon depends on the existence of the forests. Ecologists, who are studying the effects of deforestation on the recycling of rainfall in the central Amazon, point out that in a healthy strand of rain forests, about half of the rainfall is evaporated from the surface of soils and leaves or transpired by plants. The other half runs in to streams and river, eventfully returning to the ocean. With deforestation, this vigorous recycling of water will weaken and could lead to lower rainfall in the region.
On a macro level:Forests assume an essential role on the global scale. The forest cover absorbs energy that would reflect back to the atmosphere if the soil were bare. Plants take up carbon from the atmosphere as they grow, and release carbon back to the atmosphere when they are burned or die and decompose. If forests were to not be cut down, the amount of carbon put into the atmosphere will equal the amount that the trees would take in. As more trees are cut and not replanted, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere will continue to build up. Researchers find that new forest plantations covering an area of approximately 465 million hectacres (an area approximately equal to the area of the United States, West of the Mississippi) would be required to remove the 2.9 billion tons of carbon, the amount of carbon accumulation in the atmosphere every year.
The burning of trees return Carbon back into the atmosphere.
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