LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Deforestation
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Deforestation has been practiced by humans since the beginnings of civilization. Fire was the first tool that allowed humans to modify the landscape. The first evidence of deforestation shows up in the Mesolithic. It was probably used to drive game into more accessible areas. With the advent of agriculture, fire became the prime tool to clear land for crops. In Europe there is little solid evidence before 7000 BC.
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Deforestation is often cited as one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect. Trees and other plants remove carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere during the process of photosynthesis. Both the decay and burning of wood releases much of this stored carbon back to the atmosphere. A. J. Yeomans asserts in Priority One that overnight, as trees consume the sugars that they produced during the day, a stable forest releases exactly the same quantity of carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. Others state that mature forests are net sinks of CO2 (see Carbon dioxide sink and Carbon cycle). Deforestation caused by humans is estimated to contribute to one-third of all carbon dioxide.
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Deforestation