Written by Bruna
Edited by Emil Koch & Beatriz Tulio
Nowadays, deforestation is one of the biggest environmental problems we are facing in the world. Besides destroying forests and natural resources, it compromises the planet's balance and many elements, such as the ecosystem and its biodiversity. However, even though studies show all these factors, the number of deforestation actions is quickly growing.
What is the cause of deforestation?
Most of the time, deforestation is caused by human actions, such as intentionally cutting down trees from a specific forested area. Other factors are agricultural activities, mining, exploration of natural resources by the search for basic materials, intense growth of cities, forest fires, being by accident, natural or intentional.
What effects does deforestation have on our lives and the planet?
Loss of Habitat: One of the problems that deforestation brings is the loss of animals and plant species. The forest is where most of the species live and is responsible for regulating the planet's temperature. Deforestation is one of the reasons why there are such an increasing number of endangered species.
Increased Greenhouse Gases: The lack of trees allow greenhouse gases to grow in the atmosphere. Forests are usually helping concerning climate change due to the fact of being responsible for absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Water in the Atmosphere: Trees help control the water level by regulating the water cycle. As such, in deforested areas, less moisture in the air is returning to the soil, which causes dryer soil and an inability to grow crops.
Flooding: When there are trees, the soil has water-retention capacity, preventing the danger of floods in heavy rainfall during rainy seasons. If there is nothing to check heavy water flows, it leads to floods.
Diseases: An article published by Frontier established a connection between deforestation and zoonotic diseases. It shows that deforestation increased outbreaks of diseases transmitted from animals to humans.
What would be the solutions for deforestation?
Ending deforestation would be one of the most effective ways of helping climate change , and there are many ways of finally achieving a deforestation-free future.
Some of those ways are:
Demanding from the government for increasing forest protection.
Encourage farmers to adopt sustainable land use practices.
Choose sustainable products.
Demand that companies commit to reducing deforestation.
Reduce, reuse, and recycle.
The most impactful changes begin with ourselves.
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