Deforestation
Forests cover 31% of the land area on Earth. They produce vital oxygen and provide homes for people and wildlife. Many of the world’s most threatened and endangered animals live in rain/forests, and approximately 1.6 billion people rely on forests for many things, including food, fresh water, clothing, traditional medicine and shelter.
But forests around the world are under threat from deforestation, minimizing these benefits. Deforestation comes in many forms, including fires, clearing land for farming, development, and unsustainable logging. This destroys some people's homes and threatens a wide range of plant and animal species. Around 46-58 thousand square miles of forest are lost each year—equivalent to 36 football fields every minute. Forests play a critical role in managing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They act as carbon sinks, taking out the carbon dioxide that would otherwise be floating around everywhere. Scientists estimate that around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions are the result of deforestation. Deforestation is a particular concern in tropical rainforests because these forests are home to much of the world’s biodiversity. For example, in the Amazon around 17% of the forest has been lost in the last 50 years, mostly due to cattle ranching. Another name for the forests of the world is "Lungs of the World". This is acquired from the fact that the trees change carbon dioxide into air, like the way we take in oxygen, then breathe out carbon. In the picture to the right, it shows, that in deforestation, we are damaging the Lungs of the World. One of the suggested solutions is to support sustainable deforestation. Sustainable means never-ending, or 'won't run out' so sustainable deforestation means that deforestation can continue, but there will still be enough forests to support the Earth. Many people are desperately trying to popularize it (It can also so be called the 'zero-deforestation policy'). Another suggested solution is to use politics to save the forests. If people only vote for the governments that are trying to minimize deforestation, it will change big things. A third suggested solution is to use the major companies themselves. The argument for this is that "if they have the power to destroy the forests, they have the power to restore them". A last solution is to set an example. If you only buy recycled or certified wood products, and encouraging others to do the same, you are putting pressure on the companies that don't have good, sustainable woods. There are several groups, such as WWF (which stands for World Wildlife Fund), that are fighting to save the rain/forests from deforestation. It is sad though, to see that those organisations are focusing help on animals, rather than their fellow humans, such as the rainforest people (or people who live in the rainforest). |
The forests of the world, aka "Lungs of the World".
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