What is rainforest deforestation

If you start adopting the behaviors mentioned above to help stop deforestation you can lead by your example. Teach your family, friends or colleagues what deforestation is and why it is happening, the causes and consequences of deforestation, and what solutions individuals, consumers and organizations can adopt. What is being currently done do stop deforestation? Efforts to replant deforested areas are taking place every day. Unfortunately, some replanting is done with the goal of quickly growing trees to be exploited in the short-term by the logging industry.

These often consist of monotypic plantations less resilient, more appealing to harmful environmental management practices such as eucalyptus or pines.

This is no small effort: there are 1. Image credits to deforestation on Shutterstock , trees deforestation on Shutterstock and palm oil deforestation on Shutterstock. Log in and interact with engaging content: show how they matter to you, share your experience First Name. Last Name. What Is Deforestation? Then you should find out some examples of how Life is interconnected: 2 — The Effects of Deforestation on Local People and Their Livelihoods Healthy forests support the livelihoods of 1.

Understanding Deforestation In Video To understand the challenges of deforestation, check this National Geographic video. Where Is Deforestation Happening? Countries Most Impacted By Deforestation Around the world, deforestation occurs mostly in the tropics where there are different types of forests are: from wet and hot rainforests to others that lose their leaves in the dry season and become woodlands.

Related: Is Palm Oil Sustainable? Deforestation In Africa Africa is also a large area suffering from deforestation. Some of the animals under greatest threat are: Orangutans — especially in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Borneo Elephants — especially in Sumatra and Borneo Indonesian tigers — the last surviving ones are struggling to do so on the island of Sumatra Many reptiles, amphibians and other vertebrates in Haiti How Can We Stop Deforestation? Solutions to Deforestation How can we stop deforestation?

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Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The trees also help control the level of water in the atmosphere by helping to regulate the water cycle. In deforested areas, there is less water in the air to be returned to the soil. This then causes dryer soil and the inability to grow crops. Further effects of deforestation include soil erosion and coastal flooding. Trees help the land to retain water and topsoil, which provides the rich nutrients to sustain additional forest life.

Without forests, the soil erodes and washes away, causing farmers to move on and perpetuate the cycle. The barren land which is left behind in the wake of these unsustainable agricultural practices is then more susceptible to flooding, specifically in coastal regions.

As large amounts of forests are cleared away, allowing exposed earth to whither and die and the habitats of innumerable species to be destroyed, the indigenous communities who live there and depend on the forest to sustain their way of life are also under threat. Forestry practices, wildfires and, in small part, urbanization account for the rest. In Malaysia and Indonesia, forests are cut down to make way for producing palm oil , which can be found in everything from shampoo to saltines.

In the Amazon, cattle ranching and farms—particularly soy plantations—are key culprits. Loggers, some of them acting illegally , also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl as land is developed for homes.

Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees. Deforestation affects the people and animals where trees are cut, as well as the wider world.

That disruption leads to more extreme temperature swings that can be harmful to plants and animals. Yet the effects of deforestation reach much farther. The South American rainforest, for example, influences regional and perhaps even global water cycles, and it's key to the water supply in Brazilian cities and neighboring countries. The Amazon actually helps furnish water to some of the soy farmers and beef ranchers who are clearing the forest. In terms of climate change, cutting trees both adds carbon dioxide to the air and removes the ability to absorb existing carbon dioxide.

If tropical deforestation were a country, according to the World Resources Institute , it would rank third in carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, behind China and the U.

The numbers are grim, but many conservationists see reasons for hope. A movement is under way to preserve existing forest ecosystems and restore lost tree cover. Organizations and activists are working to fight illegal mining and logging—National Geographic Explorer Topher White, for example, has come up with a way to use recycled cell phones to monitor for chainsaws.

Deforestation has greatly altered landscapes around the world. About 2, years ago, 80 percent of Western Europe was forested; today the figure is 34 percent. In North America, about half of the forests in the eastern part of the continent were cut down from the s to the s for timber and agriculture. China has lost great expanses of its forests over the past 4, years and now just over 20 percent of it is forested. Today, the greatest amount of deforestation is occurring in tropical rainforests, aided by extensive road construction into regions that were once almost inaccessible.

Building or upgrading roads into forests makes them more accessible for exploitation. Slash-and-burn agriculture is a big contributor to deforestation in the tropics. With this agricultural method, farmers burn large swaths of forest, allowing the ash to fertilize the land for crops. The land is only fertile for a few years, however, after which the farmers move on to repeat the process elsewhere.

Tropical forests are also cleared to make way for logging, cattle ranching, and oil palm and rubber tree plantations. Deforestation can result in more carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. That is because trees take in carbon dioxide from the air for photosynthesis , and carbon is locked chemically in their wood.

When trees are burned, this carbon returns to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. With fewer trees around to take in the carbon dioxide, this greenhouse gas accumulates in the atmosphere and accelerates global warming. Tropical forests are home to great numbers of animal and plant species.