DEFORESTATION

 

Deforestation means cutting down trees and burning them at random. But trees are part and parcel of our environment .They keep the balance of the environment and protect us from various kinds of natural calamities. However, people cut down trees for various reasons. The most common causes of deforestation are cutting down trees and burning them. Though trees are cut and burnt for the sake of agriculture and habitat, it has a negative effect on the environment. It causes serious damage to the soil as trees give protection to the soil as well. Other wise the soil gets sediment in the riverbed and causes frequent floods. It also causes global warming which may bring about a serious cause of sufferings for the human beings in the near future. So, we should plant more trees for a healthier, happier and better life

Forests are a resource, but they are also large, undeveloped swaths of land that can be converted for purposes such as agriculture and grazing. In North America, about half the forests in the eastern part of the continent were cut down for timber and farming between the 1600s and late 1800s, according to National Geographic. 

Today, most deforestation is happening in the tropics. Areas that were inaccessible in the past are now within reach as new roads are constructed through the dense forests.

Often, deforestation occurs when forested area is cut and cleared to make way for agriculture or grazing. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) reports that just four commodities are responsible for tropical deforestation: beef, soy, palm oil and wood products. UCS estimates that an area the size of Switzerland (14,800 square miles, or 38,300 square km) is lost to deforestation every year. 

Natural fires in tropical forests tend to be rare but intense. Human-lit fires are commonly used to clear land for agricultural use. First, valuable timber is harvested, then the remaining vegetation is burned to make way for crops like soy or cattle grazing. In 2019, the number of human-lit fires in Brazil skyrocketed. As of August 2019, more than 80,000 fires burned in the Amazon, an increase of almost 80% from 2018, National Geographic reported. 

Many forests are cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. Palm oil is the most commonly produced vegetable oil and is found in half of all supermarket products. It's cheap, versatile and can be added to both food and personal products like lipsticks and shampoo. Its popularity has spurred people to clear tropical forests to grow more palm trees. Growing the trees that produce the oil requires the leveling of native forest and the destruction of local peatlands — which doubles the harmful effect on the ecosystem.