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Deforestation: Trees
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Deforestation is the act of ridding the earth of space eating, moth ridden, water sucking, snake hosting pieces of wood otherwise known as trees. They were once found almost all over the world, but now, due to the untiring efforts of several large organizations dedicated to the preservation of humanity, the prevalence of these pieces of wood is decreasing considerably.
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Deforestation increases the amount of CO2 and other trace gases in the atmosphere. When a forest is cut and replaced by cropland and pastures, the carbon that was stored in the tree trunks (wood is about 50% carbon) joins with oxygen and is released into the atmosphere as CO2.
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Tropical deforestation ... affects the local climate of an area by reducing the evaporative cooling that takes place from both soil and plant life. As trees and plants are cleared away, the moisture kept above the ground by the tree canopy of the tropical rain forest quickly diminishes, leaving hot dry air which kills most young plants. Recent research suggests that about half of the precipitation that falls in a tropical rain forest is a result of its moist, green canopy. Evaporation and evapotranspiration processes from the trees and plants return large quantities of water to the local atmosphere, promoting the formation of clouds and precipitation. Less evaporation means that more of the sun's energy is able to warm the surface and, consequently, the air above, leading to a rise in temperatures. In Rwanda, where 90% of the population depends on agriculture as its direct source of food or income, deforestation and especially the disruption of the hydrologic cycle can have devastating effects.
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In Brazil, deforestation over the course of several centuries destroyed the Atlantic forest of the south-central part of the country (note: the names of Brazil’s regions treat Rio de Janeiro as the “center” of the country). The pace of clearing was especially dramatic in the case of state of Paraná, where the forest was almost completely cleared in less than 30 years in the middle of the 20th century. At the beginning of this period prominent citizens frequently made statements to the effect that Paraná’s forests were so vast that human efforts would “never” put more than a dent in them. The similarity of these statements to those sometimes made today with reference to the Amazon forest is evident, as is the irony of their baselessness.
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Although all consequences of deforestation are potentially serious, perhaps the most serious consequence is that of climate change due to the loss of trees. Earth has an atmosphere which contains a variety of gases, all in a delicate balance, to ensure life on Earth. One of these gases in Earth’s atmosphere is carbon dioxide; a gas which helps moderate heat loss to outer space. Insulating gases such as carbon dioxide are called "greenhouse gasses because their function is much like that of the glass in a greenhouse: they allow solar heat into the system, but discourage its escape" (GFF 3). Other greenhouse gases include methane, chlorofluorocarbons, nitrous oxide, and ozone. If there are additional greenhouse gases, there will be a gradual increase in temperature on Earth’s surface.
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The future path of deforestation depends on human decisions. It is not foreordained that the Amazon forest will be destroyed, although this is obviously the endpoint if present trends continue unchanged. Various modeling efforts have projected clearing patterns in Amazonia and agree that vast areas would be cleared if trends continue and planned infrastruture projects are built. Attempts to model what might happen under hypothetical “governance” scenarios are less convincing, since they rely on simple assumptions of restraint and obedience to environmental regulations that are at variance with observed behavior to date. Nevertheless, the potential to change deforestation behavior is real, both through creation of protected areas and through command and control measures to repress illegal clearing. An important historical example is the deforestation licensing and control program that was carried out by the state government in Mato Grosso over the 1999-2001 period, where clearing patterns indicated that the program had a real effect on deforestation rates.
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