Winifrey

Physical Science
Geography 1700 Natural Disasters

Eportfolio Assignment -- Environmental Degradation :

Photograph by Tomas Munita/AP Photos  

Be aware of it: Deforestation! Let’s take action to save our Earth!

Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use, defined by Society of American Forests. In other words, deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but swaths the sizes of Panama are lost each and every year.

There are two root causes of deforestation. The primary and most common reasons for deforestation are known as direct causes, which mean the man-made causes, for example, Logging, overpopulation, urbanization, dam construction etc. The other main cause of deforestation is known as natural cause as it is brought by the Mother Nature.

There are approximately 6,895,889 thousand people in the world in 2010 and it has increased from 1990 to 2010 by 15.9 billion and 30% growth. This huge growth of population makes the problem of overpopulation very common. The main reason of having such an enormous amount of people is the increase in birth while a decline in mortality rates due to medical advances. With better medical developments, people can live much longer. Also, most people are educated and therefore they have better living standard and hence have a better life, use more brainpower but less hard physical work. They have more knowledge in protecting and improving their health too. 

World population from 1800 to 2100, based on UN 2004 projections (red, orange, green) and US Census Bureau historical estimates (black).

Rapid population growth has resulted to the conversion of forest areas to non-forest lands for settlement and farming. Together with this is urbanization and residential area expansion. This takes a significant loss of forest lands both for harvesting forest products as more people need more lumber to build their houses and for developing the greater area their houses, malls, business centers will be built.

A rise in population also means a rise in produce consumption. Thus, rainforests are destroyed and converted to cattle pasture to supply the burgeoning demand for meat. In Central America, almost half of the rainforests have been slashed and burned for cattle farming in order comply with foreign demands. Besides this, 25% of the Amazon's forests have also been destroyed for cattle ranches.
      

The lack of government legislation for land reforms has also cleared the forest especially in developing countries, like the South East Asian nations. People in that region are among the poorest in the world and are desperate for a piece of land. Unequal distribution of resources has led these people to find their way to exploit the forests.

Exploitative economic development schemes is another reason that denuding the forest and the powerlessness of government to safeguard its resources. Poor countries in their attempt to increase their revenues are in a way of exploiting their natural resources--the forests. Timber is exported to reduce the national debt. Countries rich in mineral resources open their doors to multinational mining corporations that clear the forests as they go with their operations. The government especially those belonging in the Third World cannot curb commercial logging and implement a total log ban in exchange to higher foreign exchange rates. Development projects like dams, roads, and airports contracted by the government also cause deforestation.         

While most causes of deforestation occur due to human activities, there are uncontrolled causes of deforestation such as forest fires, volcanic eruption, and typhoon.

Lightning starts forest fires, and strong winds help to spread the flames. Drought in the forest has increased the amount of flammable bush and debris on the forest floor. Forest fires destroy immeasurable amount of valuable timber. They kill not only trees but also other living things.     

Meanwhile, volcanic eruption is one of the several natural forces capable of causing damage to forests. The ashes emitted during the eruption coat tree leaves, which then interfere with photosynthesis. Animal population is also devastated. The organisms that survive have to cope with the changed habitat and reduced food supplies.

      

Last is typhoon. These are violent storms when fierce winds destroy much of the island's rain forest.

After talking about the different causes of deforestation, we have to know where it is occurring. In fact, it is occurring all over the world, such as southern Mexico, Gran Chaco in Paraguay. South America is a typical example. South America is home to some of the world's largest and lushest rainforests. Fully one fifth of the different species of flora and fauna on the planet can be found in these forests, and quite a number of them are indigenous to this region alone. Despite the sheer size of the rain forests, they are rapidly being diminished by deforestation in South America.

   Jungle burned for agriculture in southern Mexico.

 
 
Deforestation for the use of clay in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. The hill depicted is Morro da Covanca, in Jacarepagua

Due to the world’s increasing population, the demand food as well as lumber for construction rise rapidly, people therefore need more arable farm land and lumber. Besides this, the conversion of forest area into urbanized areas, and the location of valuable iron ore and petroleum deposits deep in the rain forests are two other reasons for South American deforestation.

However, the four reasons given above are common factors of deforestation the world over. But in South America, there are other reasons for deforestation that seem to be specific to this continent alone.

In Brazil, the leading reasons for deforestation are cattle ranching and soybean farming. Brazil itself is home to large sections of the Amazon rainforest. Aside from the Amazon, Brazil holds one third of the world's number of rain forests. Despite this large percentage, almost a quarter of the forests in Brazil have already been lost. The practice of cattle ranching and the destruction of forest for grazing land has long been a heavy contributor to deforestation in South America, and these numbers have increased steadily as European countries have turned to Brazil for 75% of their meat imports.

              The Amazon Rainforest, the largest tropical forest in the world.

Soybean farming is a fairly recent development in Brazil, yet has already climbed up the ranks to be the second highest cause of deforestation in South America. The creation of new breeds of soy bean in Brazil has already allowed it to compete neck in neck with the United States as the world's leading soy bean exporter, and the subsequent increase in demands for commercially arable land has led to the destruction of vast tracts of forest region.

Another reason for deforestation in South America that is different from the usual is the presence of gold and diamond mines in Venezuela. Venezuela's rain forests originally were divided by the Orinoco River that run through the country, with 20% of the forests growing north of the river and the remaining 80% growing south. The usual reasons of logging and the need for farming and urban land have already more or less decimated the upper 20% since most of the inhabitants of Venezuela live north of the Orinoco. However, the discovery of rich gold and diamond deposits in the rainforests south of the river have sparked numerous mines, which are currently the leading reason for deforestation in Venezuela.

   Panning for gold in Venezuela.

Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. 70% of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes.

Deforestation also drives climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the atmosphere. Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can quickly become barren deserts.

Forest land turned to desert.

Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s rays during the day and holds in heat at night. This disruption leads to more extreme temperatures swings that can be harmful to plants and animals.

  Trees also play a critical role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, for instance, carbon dioxide. Fewer forests mean larger amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere—and increased speed and severity of global warming. 

Since deforestation brings people so many unfavorable impacts, everyone has the responsibility to avoid it and save our earth.

The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down trees. Though deforestation rates have slowed a bit in recent years, financial realities make this unlikely to occur.

     Stop cutting trees!

A more workable solution is to carefully manage forest resources by eliminating clear-cutting to make sure that forest environments remain intact. The cutting that does occur should be balanced by the planting of enough young trees to replace the older ones felled in any given forest. The number of new tree plantations is growing each year, but their total still equals a tiny fraction of the Earth’s forested land.

   

In reality, most countries are becoming more aware of this issue. The governments are trying to do something in order to improve the situation.

Major international organizations, including the United Nations and the World Bank, have begun to develop programs aimed at curbing deforestation. The blanket term Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) describes these sorts of programs, which use direct monetary or other incentives to encourage developing countries to limit and/or roll back deforestation. Funding has been an issue, but at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties-15 (COP-15) in Copenhagen in December 2009, an accord was reached with a collective commitment by developed countries for new and additional resources, including forestry and investments through international institutions, that will approach USD 30 billion for the period 2010–2012.

On May 20, 2011, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a Presidential Instruction (“decree”) putting into effect a two-year moratorium on issuing new permits for use of primary natural forest and Pearland. The highly anticipated moratorium is part of a broader $1 billion Indonesia-Norway partnership to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation.

Additionally, BRASILIA, Brazil, December 1, 2010 (ENS) - Brazil has reduced destruction of its Amazon rainforest to the lowest rate since satellite observations began in 1988, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced today in Brasilia. The achievement helps protect the global climate as deforestation causes greenhouse gases to increase in the atmosphere.
Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, INPE, said in its annual report that deforestation reached a record low of 2,490 square miles (6,450 square kilometers) between August 2009 and July 2010.

Other than reducing emission and monitoring deforestation, reforestation is another good way to solve the issue. The Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration is established. It is a worldwide network that unites governments, major UN and non-governmental organizations, companies, and individuals with a common cause. ”We believe that ideas transform landscapes”. The partnership provides the information and tools to strengthen restoration efforts around the world and builds support for forest landscape restoration with decision-makers and opinions-formers, both at local and international levels.

Restoration comes in various forms. Sparsely populated areas that are not intensively used may be suitable for wide-scale restoration. Here restoration may entail quite low investment, involving control of fire and grazing so that trees can naturally regenerate. Areas where land is more intensively used can be restored to tree cover in a patchwork pattern, known as “mosaic restoration”. Even intensively farmed and developed areas can benefit greatly from “protective restoration”, including the planting of trees to prevent erosion on steep slopes, along rivers and streams, to serve as windbreaks, and to provide shade along tracks and roads.

          Global Map of Forest Landscape Restoration Opportunities

In addition, new methods are being developed to farm more intensively, such as high-yield hybrid crops, greenhouse, autonomous building gardens and hydroponics. These methods are often dependent on chemical inputs to maintain necessary yields and it helps prevent over-expansion of agricultural land use.

There are still many other ways to handle this environmental issue, as long as everyone is willing to solve the issue, everybody takes action and avoid deforestation, the problem will be gone eventually and the earth will be recovered and healthy again.  We have to take care of this land for our next generations to enjoy.

Reflection:

Before starting this assignment, I thought I am a person who cares about the environment a lot. But after doing the research for this assignment, I realize that I really know so little about what is happening over the entire world. I have been in the U.S for over a year. I lived in my home country—Hong Kong before I come here. In Hong Kong, which is a very small city, most people only concern about Hong Kong but not caring about the whole world, just like what I used to be. After moving to the U.S, I realize that the world actually is so much larger, and it is not enough to care only about my home country only.

So now, especially after doing this assignment, my mindset has changed a lot.  I care about different corners in the world. And this is the main reason why I choose deforestation as my topic. As not many people live near forests and therefore they may have never cared about the forests. They may not know how important the forests to human, animals and plants are as well. When I discuss with my mom how serious deforestation is, her response was: “It really doesn’t matter. Fewer forests can let people have more land to use, isn’t that a good thing?” I believe too many people in the world has the same thought as my mom. Therefore, I want to write about the causes and consequences of deforestation in the news report, and I hope more people can understand how forests and deforestation affect the earth, us and our children.

I have chosen some images that show the severity the issue has cause our land. Also, I found a video from YouTube, which is explaining the issue and it just like a brief summary of my article. I truly believe it would be helpful to stimulate more people’s attentions on this important issue.

We can only hope that the uncontrollable forces that causing deforestation would not do great damage. However, people must make the right decisions and corrective actions must be taken to address the problems brought by the other reasons of deforestation.  It is imperative to know that there is no such thing as a small, insignificant act when it comes to defeating deforestation. No matter how small our deed maybe, the important thing there is 'every act can make a difference'. Deforestation can be prevented and I will be an active force in achieving that.

Sources & References:

Amazon deforestation rises sharply in 2007, USATODAY.com, January 24, 2008

Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration, World Resources Institute, South Dakota State University, International Union for Conservation of Nature. September, 2011.

The Global Partnership Forest Landscape Restoration (http://ideastransformlandscapes.org)

Beth Gingold and Fred Stolle, Indonesia’s Ambitious Forest Moratorium Moves Forward, World Resources Institute, June 9, 2011.

Deforestation and the environmental Kuznets curve: An institutional perspective

Nigel Sizer, Lars Laestadius, and Susan Minnemeyer, Restoring Forests: An Opportunity for Africa, World Resources Institute, May 26, 2011

National Geographic Environment (http://environment.nationalgeographic.com)

National Geographic: Eye in the Sky (http://www/nationalgeographic.com/eye/deforestation/effect.html)

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation)

Williams, Michael. (2003). Deforesting the Earth. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

Worldwatch Institute (http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4521)

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KSMFIGQ2nI&feature=related