DEFORESTATION

The word deforestation is used to describe the process of cutting down and burning the trees in the forests, turning the land into industrial land. As we well know, humans have always cut down trees. Wood has historically been the most dominant form of heating fuel, as well as one of the most widely used building materials for houses and boats. 25% of the world's wood harvest is now used in paper production.

Forests are important for several reasons. First of all, many would espouse the opinion that they should be preserved for future generations to enjoy. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the Earth’s surface, but each year about 13 million hecters of forest are converted to agricultural land or cleared for other purposes. Trees absorb CO2, helping to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Carbon is one of the key causes of global warming and reducing these gases will help to slow and stop the greenouse effect (Singh & Singh, 2017, pág. 1)

(Chakravarty, s.f) Deforestation and forest degradation have substantial long-term consequences for the world’s ecosystems, economies, and societies. Major environmental impacts consist of biodiversity loss due to the destruction and fragmentation of habitats, declining provision of ecosystem services such as disturbed water cycles, soil erosion, and anthropogenic global. The latter impact is explained by the fact that once forests are felled the carbon originally held in forests is released into the atmosphere, either immediately if the trees are burned, or more slowly as unburned organic matter decays. Deforestation is estimated to account for a quarter of all anthropogenic greenhouse gasemissions and is thereby ranked as the third largest source after energy supply and industrial activities. 

Deforestation of tropical forests is now a real threat. Every year we lose 13 million hectares of native forest worldwide, especially the tropical forests in Asia, Africa and the Americas. One of the main causes of deforestation is logging. In some cases the wood of native trees is exploited and in others deforestation occurs for forest plantations.  The forest is also cut down, the wood is harvested and then the land is used for agriculture.

Deforestation is a fact of life that occurs and will continue to occur especially if the world authorities do not take the necessary steps to bring about change. It is necessary to create conscience to stop this problem that every day is more notable the causes that this brings.

Human beings think that forests are unimportant spaces that can be destroyed and used for agricultural purposes. In recent years this problem has increased and this is due to the misuse as industrialized countries and emerging who are currently in the phase of reconquest of the forests.

Bibliografía

Chakravarty, S. (s.f). Deforestation: Causes and effects . Global Perspectives on Sustainable Forest Management .

Singh, G., & Singh, B. (December de 2017). DEFORESTATION AND ITS IMPACT ON ENVIONMENT. International journal of advanse research in Science and Engineering.