Monitoring
Exploring the human activities that caused deforestation on Earth and how.
Causes of deforestation
Paper Wastage
Paper wastage is a huge issue globally that is a factor of deforestation. Annually in the U.S. alone, 85,000,000 tons of paper is wasted. That amount of paper can be used to power 50 million homes for 20 years. Research has shown that half of all documents that are printed or copied are thrown within the first 24 hours. Of all trees that are cut down for industrial use, almost 50% is used up to make paper. In many situations, paper is not a necessity, yet people continue to use it. During the ‘electronic revolution’, it was predicted to drop paper usage, but instead, it has been steadily increasing with time.
Paper waste in Italy
Palm Oil Plantations
One of the major industrial resources other than paper is palm oil. Yet the main cause of deforestation out of the listed is palm oil. Oil palm plantations are quite common in Malaysia and Indonesia. In fact, both Indonesia and Malaysia have more than 20 million hectare of palm plantations which is more than 80% of palm produced in the world. As for Borneo, the country has lost over half of the forests. From the mid-1980s, it has lost half from the 75% of forests lands. Annually, there is a 1.3 million hectare deforestation rate which is quite horrifying. Unfortunately, this rate is increasing and before the world knows it, most of the forest lands will be forgotten. It’s shocking to take in the fact that the world’s third largest country, the United States, has lost most of its lowland rainforests.
Palm oil produced in Indonesia
Palm oil produced in Indonesia
Plam oil consumption in daily lives
Illegal Logging
Along with the increasing demand for palm oil, timber demands are common. Most communities believe in using timber whenever accessible. Illegal logging is an issue that is taken lightly in many countries like Brazil and Indonesia, where deforestation rate is highest. Yet, this issue is particularly caused by the economy. In Kalimantan, 56% of the protected lowland tropical rainforests were cut down from the year 1985 until 2001. To make matters worse, protection laws are almost useless in Borneo since there are no consequences faced and the laws are not harsh enough to scare people. Not only will there be a decrease of oxygen levels in the area, but homes of the other species will be destroyed leading to possible extinction.
Illegal logging in Brazil
Agricultural Expansion
A common assumption is that because of urbanization, forests are cut down to make place for new buildings and improved infrastructure. While true, a bigger problem is not the real estate industry cutting down forests, but rather the agriculture industry. This sounds very counteractive, but it is true. With the rate of urbanization increasing, more than 54% of the world live in urban areas. That means more people are in towns where the people are generally richer, and there is a higher demand for food. To satisfy this need, it puts more pressure for farmers to produce more crops, especially in demand and prominent ones such as soya and palm trees for palm oil. For them to be able to do this, many farmers are forced to clear out forests, since they are fertile land, to make space for the plants. For example, in the range of 1990 and 2000, 20% of the woodlands in Indonesia had been lost, which is approximately 24 million hectares, and by 2010, just 52% of the complete land region was actually forest land. As forest areas are greatly reduced, carbon in the atmosphere increases. Moreover, these crops quickly degrade the soil due to them not being naturally grown but instead cultivated by humans. This ruins the soil pretty fast, and soon the land is unusable for several years so they seek out to cut down more forest land in the meantime.
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Overpopulation
Population of human species has been increasing over the course of time. Space is critically being made through the destruction of forest lands. One of the complex relationships of forests being lost is human growth itself. Studies show that from 1980s to 1990s the relationship between population growth and deforestation in Central America, East and West Asia, and South America is quite strong than in South America and Central Africa. Research by Frederick A.B. Meyerson in 2003 shows that there is a strong correlation between population density and the forest richness. In places with low population density, much of the original forest was preserved while in places with medium to high population densities, a lot of the forest was cleared out. See the graph below for reference. In some place though, the pattern was random because although there were places with low concentration densities, they were providing the need of people who were far away, i.e. to export. Ignoring that, we can see the general trend.
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Climate Change
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Climate change is caused by a variety of reasons, which all ultimately contribute to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and therefore increasing the Earth’s overall temperature. Greenhouse gases are are gases like water vapor and carbon dioxide, which all conserve the heat. If it weren’t for greenhouse gases, the overall temperature of the Earth would be much lower at about -14 degrees. At the same time, a lot isn’t good either. Too many greenhouse gases means the temperature is too high. Trees usually take in the carbon dioxide, make it into oxygen and release a lot of water into the air at the same time, whereas when trees are cut down, the humidity in the air is lost, but the main point is that carbon absorption decreases, and carbon is emitted back into the atmosphere when the wood is burned, or if it’s left to rot. . This subsequently leads to other plants dying, and more susceptible to burning and being affected by forest fires. Overall, temperatures have risen 1.53 °F (0.85 °C) between 1880 and 2012, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, due to our release of carbon and most importantly because of the forest clearing. At this rate, it is very bad to the Earth and we must stay cautious and watch our actions carefully.
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Breeding Grounds
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Increased demands for food also means an increased demand for meat and other animal products. Starting from the late 1900s, cattle ranching has been a great problem, especially in the Amazon Forest. By the 2000s, cattle ranching accounted for more than 75% of the forest’s loss of land. Farmers need a place to raise their cattle, so they seek to destroy the lush forests to gain suitable land for cattle ranching. It is also done for land speculation, as forest land in the region has little value, but cleared out land can be used for cattles and planting other crops. This skyrockets the rate of clearing out forests and motivates the landowners to do so. All of this negatively impacts the world.
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Number of heads of cattle in the states of the Brazilian Amazon and the departments of the Bolivian and Peruvian Amazon.
Agricultural Expansion
A common assumption is that because of urbanization, forests are cut down to make place for new buildings and improved infrastructure. While true, a bigger problem is not the real estate industry cutting down forests, but rather the agriculture industry. This sounds very counteractive, but it is true. With the rate of urbanization increasing, more than 54% of the world live in urban areas. That means more people are in towns where the people are generally richer, and there is a higher demand for food. To satisfy this need, it puts more pressure for farmers to produce more crops, especially in demand and prominent ones such as soya and palm trees for palm oil. For them to be able to do this, many farmers are forced to clear out forests, since they are fertile land, to make space for the plants. For example, in the range of 1990 and 2000, 20% of the woodlands in Indonesia had been lost, which is approximately 24 million hectares, and by 2010, just 52% of the complete land region was actually forest land. As forest areas are greatly reduced, carbon in the atmosphere increases. Moreover, these crops quickly degrade the soil due to them not being naturally grown but instead cultivated by humans. This ruins the soil pretty fast, and soon the land is unusable for several years so they seek out to cut down more forest land in the meantime.
Overpopulation
The population of human species has been increasing over the course of time. Space is critically being made through the destruction of forest lands. One of the complex relationships of forests being lost is human growth itself. Studies show that from 1980s to 1990s the relationship between population growth and deforestation in Central America, East and West Asia, and South America is quite strong than in South America and Central Africa. Research by Frederick A.B. Meyerson in 2003 shows that there is a strong correlation between population density and the forest richness. In places with low population density, much of the original forest was preserved while in places with medium to high population densities, a lot of the forest was cleared out. See the graph below for reference. In some place though, the pattern was random because although there were places with low concentration densities, they were providing the need of people who were far away, i.e. to export. Ignoring that, we can see the general trend.
Climate Change
Climate change is caused by a variety of reasons, which all ultimately contribute to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and therefore increasing the Earth’s overall temperature. Greenhouse gases are are gases like water vapor and carbon dioxide, which all conserve the heat. If it weren’t for greenhouse gases, the overall temperature of the Earth would be much lower at about -14 degrees. At the same time, a lot isn’t good either. Too many greenhouse gases means the temperature is too high. Trees usually take in the carbon dioxide, make it into oxygen and release a lot of water into the air at the same time, whereas when trees are cut down, the humidity in the air is lost, but the main point is that carbon absorption decreases, and carbon is emitted back into the atmosphere when the wood is burned, or if it’s left to rot. . This subsequently leads to other plants dying, and more susceptible to burning and being affected by forest fires. Overall, temperatures have risen 1.53 °F (0.85 °C) between 1880 and 2012, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, due to our release of carbon and most importantly because of the forest clearing. At this rate, it is very bad to the Earth and we must stay cautious and watch our actions carefully.
