Deforestation

     For centuries, deforestation has made our world the way it is today. Deforestation is to permanently destroy forests in order to make more room for other purposes, such as buildings, highways, or living developments. According to the World Wildlife Fund, “Deforestation comes in many forms, including fires, clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching and development, unsustainable logging for timber, and degradation due to climate change.” Society has practiced deforestation since the beginning of civilization and settlements across the world, and now, the tropical rainforests are next and decreasing rapidly everyday. In the past couple of years, the debate has been brought up on whether or not deforestation should continue. Deforestation has caused issues scientifically, environmentally, economically, and ethically. As these forests are cleared there are many repercussions that will affect the environment, such as forcing animals out of their habitats, climate change, increased air pollution, and far more. Aside from the environmental factors, society is faced with the moral decision of whether or not their wants or needs come before those of an animal or of future society. The social, ethical, scientific, and economic implications on the future world may prove to be detrimental and irreversible. If  society stops deforestation now, and cohesively work to find solutions, such as reforestation, the world can prevent implications, such as a a forest-less world, and repair the damage that has  already been done.

     Trees are an essential part of the ecosystem and they are being cut down to make room for building projects as well as to manufacture products. In consonance with the National Geographic article, “Deforestation” swaths of trees equivalent to the land area of Panama are cut down each year and at the current rate of deforestation the world’s rainforests could completely disappear within the next century. As trees are cut down there are many repercussions that will affect the environment. These implications, from a scientific lens, include biome shifts, loss of habitats for animals, leading to an accelerated rate of extinction, climate change, and an increase in air pollution.

     Deforestation is causing climate changes and on an even larger scale biome shifts. A biome is, according to the organization Blue Planet Biomes in the article “What is a Biome?”, a large geographical area of particular plants and animals that are adjusted to that specific environment. The ten specific biomes are the tundra, taiga, grasslands, deciduous forests, chaparral, desert, desert-scrub, savanna, rainforest and alpine (Blue Planet Biomes). So, Biome shifts will occur due to global warming and the biggest warning sign will be the changing migration patterns of animals from these specific biomes. An example of a biome change can be found in the article “Sahara Desert Was Once Lush and Populated” from Livescience by the author Bjorn Carey that depicts the Sahara desert as being a lush rainforest but as the trees slowly died off the sun began to heat and dry out the soil the Sahara soon came to be the desert that it is today, changing the climate and species of that region. As the Union of Concerned Scientists states in the article “Early Warning Signs of Global Warming: Plant and Animal Range Shifts”, that,  “The geographic ranges of most plant and animal species are limited by climatic factors, including temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, humidity, and wind.” As these different factors change due to global warming the geographic ranges of both plants and animals will be shifted to different regions. The article also depicts that “...ecological models predict that the distribution of world biomes will shift as a result of the climate changes associated with increased greenhouse gases...” that results from continual deforestation. These ecological changes that propagate biome changes also accelerate the extinction rate of species that are more sensitive to stimuli, though some are able to move to other regions in search of a better habitat, completely shifting the food chain and the flow of energy, others simply die out due to these changes. The peer reviewed International Weekly Journal of Science article, “Consequences of Changing Biodiversity” states that although extinction is a process that can be found naturally, it is now occurring at an increasingly accelerated rate due to human intervention, such as habitat destruction via deforestation. Also humans have already caused the extinction of five to twenty percent of extinctions of organisms and the current rate of extinction is about one hundred to one thousand times greater than pre-human rates. According to National Geographic, Modern-Day Plague, “70 percents of the earth's animals and plants live in forests” which are constantly struggling to survive because of deforestation. The continuation of deforestation will cause biogeographical regions to shift, leading to disastrous animal migration and extinction.

     The foremost reason that trees are significant to the environment is that trees have the ability to clean the air as well as the soil of harmful pollutants. As listed by the organization Rainforest Conservation Fund in the article, “Climate Change and Increase in Greenhouse Gases,” trees are able to absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide and methane. As stated in the article, “Seven Causes of Air Pollution” it is stated that deforestation is a main cause for the increase in air pollution in recent years. The author, Chris Dinesen Rogers, who received the state of Kentucky Colonel award for her work in environmentalist efforts states that trees use the process of carbon sequestration during photosynthesis that helps to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. Titan Trees stated in the article “Tree Facts: Did You Know?” that “One tree produces nearly 260 pounds of oxygen each year,” and they absorb “as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year and can sequester 1 ton of carbon dioxide by the time it reaches 40 years old.” So, as these trees are cut down there is less carbon sequestration thus, the amount of carbon dioxide, the foremost gas in the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continues to increase to unprecedented levels. The article “10 Reasons Living Trees Are Valuable” by forestry expert and writer for About Education, Steve Nix, trees are also able to clean the soil through phytoremediation which is the process that a tree undergoes to absorb harmful chemicals that make it into the soil and they can either store these chemicals or they can break them down into less harmful forms. This process is significant due to the fact that cleansing the soil is good for animals and their habitats as well as crops. If trees were to be completely eliminated from the environment there would be low levels of oxygen and very high levels of greenhouse gases causing the extinction of many species, even humans.

     From a scientific lens, the practice of deforestation is harmful to the environment and may lead to various harmful changes in the atmosphere and environment such as biome changes, animal extinctions due to habitat loss, climate change and increased air pollution. The loss of trees is directly connected to the survival of life on Earth as it is interconnected with many other key factors needed for survival.

     Deforestation has now caused issues economically, and further implications will cause the world’s economy suffer greatly. Our economy will suffer greatly since global warming will cause drought.  This is all because of deforestation. Global warming is caused by many factors and surprisingly, deforestation is one of them. According to National Geographic, forest loss contributes between 6 percent and 12 percent of annual global warming(LiveScience, 2015). When trees are taken away, the air gets hotter, than climate changes due to lack of humidity in the air caused by trees, and lack of precipitation will cause drought. In California, there is a current drought and the damaging effects are now not just affect California, but the whole country. When drought occurs, it kills crops due to lack of water(GreenGarage). When crops being produced less and less, the price goes up and food becomes scarce, which damages the economy by lack of money being spent of food. Don't forget livestock, which is used for food, and even transportation in some countries. If these animals die, then another resource has been weaken or is lacking by deforestation. Water companies will lose tons of money due to lack of water to bottle. When farms and livestock are  demolished, jobs are lost. Many farmers or workers in that field will lose their jobs and cause the economy suffer even more than it does now with the lack of jobs currently. When you kill these trees, you take away the limited supply that can not grow back in enough time to cut them. Certain trees give people medicine and less the trees, less the medicine(CulturalSurvival, 2015). These forests contain special medicine seen nowhere else(GreenGarage, 2015). When medicine and food is taken away, people will die or starve. If diseases and illnesses have no medicines to cure them hospitals will have no money being paid for treatments, and doctors will not get paid. This ties in will more jobs being lost and our economy being hurt even more. If these forests are cut down, then lack of jobs will further damage the economy.

     In conclusion, in our technologically dependent world, we do not need as much paper products as we thought. Now computers can store twice as much formation faster and more efficiently than printing or writing out documents and other needs. Limiting paper would save time and money to make paper and ship it. More money would go to technology making our lives easier. You would have jobs being transferred to rebuilding the forests and working with technology, which would be creating more jobs and helping our damaged economy. Since wood furniture isn’t as popular as it it now, we can use cheaper metals and resources that will last longer and won't take as much upkeep which costs more money fix and produce. Considering wood is flammable, in case of accident, such as a fire, everything that is wood would be burned. Which one would  have to pay tons of money replacing when metals aren’t as expensive to replace since wood is from trees and trees take forever to reproduce enough to make use out of them. Our society is trying to make a better world by using cleaner energy. When burning wood, one would  have to buy more and more, while wind or solar energy is becoming less expensive and never runs out. This would save tons of moneys and time when heating your house, especially house dependent on fireplaces. When saving money on these problems, you have more money to spend and help businesses which helps the economy and yourself. These implications because our economy to suffer, and these economical issues can impact other issues, such as ethically. When animals homes are taken away from them, thousands to millions are spent on protecting these animals, and trying relocated or build them new homes, a lot of money is being spent, when it doesn’t need to be in the first place. Deforestation will cause further issues in the future than positive outcomes.

     Deforestation is a major ethical issue that will decrease future society’s standard of living  and diminish the biodiversity of the world today. So many animals, such as dogs and cats go without homes in this world. They are left to starve in pounds and pray that a loving owner comes to adopt them. Now what about the animals in this world who do have a home? Monkeys, squirrels, birds and many other creatures happily call the trees of rainforests and deciduous forests their homes. When people come in and tear down those trees for their own personal benefit, it tears away these creatures habitats, and they are forced to find a new place to live. That may seem simple due to the fact that there are more than just one tree in the forest, however if deforestation continues, finding a new home will be more than difficult for these animals. Animals have no way to speak up for themselves against the humans who are dominating their homes, therefore have no way to express the danger that deforestation is to these creatures. When their homes are chopped down, it puts these  animals at risk of being eaten by a predator, or at risk of hunters or poachers. In the article “The Ethics Surrounding Deforestation”, presented by The Daily Emerald, the topic of biocentric ethics is discussed, which is the idea that the environment and its preservation should come before our current needs or wants. While this could be seen as being a very radical idea, it simply presents the case of perhaps using trees in a sustainable way, or using privately owned trees and land, rather than places such as tropical rainforests which inhabit endangered animals, or national forests which are historic landmarks for many areas. As stated in “Deforestation” presented by Profoco, “The disappearance of the planet's rainforests will result in a staggering loss of biodiversity, and unforeseeable changes to our climate at an enormous expense” If deforestation continues, the world come become less diverse due to the loss of animal’s habitats. On an ethical level, leaving animals without a home is wrong, and can be stopped along side with the ending of deforestation.

     Aside from the fact that deforestation is like taking candy from a baby, it is also a concern that perhaps deforestation is ruining the world and future ecosystem of society to come. If deforestation continues, it is possible that our future society may be in danger of losing some of the world’s natural wonders, such as exuberant animals and plants, that may no longer be around due to deforestation. By ripping down trees now, it deprives the people of the future of seeing such beauty. As stated in “Tackling Deforestation- Could a New Ethical Products Scheme Help?” written by Kristizi Szalai, Dr. Richard Field and Dr. Sarah Jewitt, it is stated that “Short-term benefits may be pursued in spite of greater long-term losses, even if those losses are known.”. This quote shows the blatant disrespect that our society has for our future. People walk around with the mentality that if it doesn't effect them, then it must not be very important. If that thought process is carried over to the idea of deforestation, it is possible that our future society could be living in a nearly concrete world. National Geographic relates deforestation to “a modern day plague”, warning us that society may be unknowingly killing off everything.Deforestation is a drug, it gives society a temporary feeling of contentment, while only leading us to want to take more and more, regardless of the physical effect.

     Finally, all these problems can be solved by stopping deforestation. Deforestation will only cause climate change which causes global warming and drought. Drought will kill crops and livestock and as well as companies who rely on water for their products. Deforestation is not needed due to our technological world, and less of need of paper. When using tablets or computers to document things and write. Technology will be further advanced and more jobs can be put into that field and  as well as having a job to plant and take care of trees. New and cheaper resources can limit the amount of food needed. They are also safer and more efficient. When using solar or wind energy instead of wood to burn. Use metals or other resources for furniture and building. All of these factors contribute in the idea that deforestation will only damage our economy and even further implications will damage it more. You can save the animals and stop global warming by starting reforestation. Reforestation would allow jobs to come in the help regrow new trees. This would give safer and long lasting jobs. Reforestation jobs could help protect endangered animals and their homes. This is a way to give back from what  society has stole from these animals and the earth’s trees. Reforestation is hope that society can reverse the damage that has been already done.

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