Rainforest Facts
Deforestation & Climate
Monday, 09 March 2009 Trevor Williams - Originally Published in Green Muze
Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest. Image: iStockphoto
The Amazon Rainforest is still being cut down at an alarming rate. Almost every year there is more news about deforestation but it seems to be over-shadowed by the debate on climate change. In 2005, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations reported on the state of the world’s forests in their Global Forest Resources Assessment. Their next report is due sometime in 2010 and will likely include even more bad news.
The 2005 report stated that 13 million hectares of forest was destroyed and replaced by agricultural land between 2000-2005. This means that significant carbon absorbing mass was lost on the planet and was replaced by land area that actually generates more greenhouse gases through agricultural processes and fossil fuel based agricultural products.
Lungs of the Earth
By Dan Tefft, CEO TreeBanking LLC
The Rainforests are the lungs of the earth. Not only do they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen, but they also create clouds that help reflect sunlight and heat back into space and provide rain for crops and drinking water.
Until recently most people that live in the Rainforests have seen them as unlimited. A vast sea of trees that were in the way of development. They had to be removed in order for the land to yield any valuable crops.
What Are the Causes of Deforestation?
Forests disappear naturally as a result of broad climate change, fire, hurricanes or other disturbances, however most deforestation in the past 40,000 years has been man made.
Increasing the amount of farmland for soy and palm oil production, wood extraction and, infrastructure expansion are all important factors in driving deforestation in different regions
The ultimate cause of most deforestation is increased food production. Cattle, permanent crops, slash and burn cultivation are obvious examples. Harvesting wood for cooking fuel and construction material are also causes of deforestation.
The demand for tropical hardwoods for furniture and other decorative construction projects is also a leading cause of deforestation.
A sad part of of much of this deforestation is that after the trees are removed, barren land is left behind... abandoned.
