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Effects of deforestation
To many people living in temperate climates, tropical rain forests are fascinating
places, full of mystery and promise, containing some of the most interesting and diverse
products nature has to offer. So it would be a disaster if they were to vanish. Once
cleared of trees, rain forest topsoil, which can take over a thousand years to accumulate, can be eroded in just one decade. This makes the
land unusable, and can in turn lead to disastrous flooding since there is no soil to soak
up the rain. But that's not the end of the story.
Forest clearance also leaves human forest dwellers without
food or shelter, and leads to the disappearance of ways of life which have existed largely
unchanged for thousands of years. However, potentially the most damaging effect of forest
clearance is its impact on the planet's climate. We
have all heard of the perils of global warming and the greenhouse effect, and it is common
knowledge that this is caused mainly be the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Trees and other green plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen through
photosynthesis, whereas animals breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. The
destruction of the tropical rain forests would bring about a disastrous imbalance in the
amounts of carbon dioxide produced and recycled, leading to a build up in the atmosphere,
and increased climate change. Add to this the fact that many of the trees cut down to
provide space for agriculture are either burned or left to rot, releasing even more carbon
dioxide, and clearly we have a recipe for disaster. The whole of nature is a vast
interrelated system which currently exists in a more or less balanced state. Tampering
with such important factors as the rain forests could bring about irreversible damage to
the world as we know it.
A further consequence of deforestation concerns the scientific possibilities which
would be lost with the demise of the tropical rain forests. It is estimated that only a
small fraction of the plants and animals living in rain forests have been identified, and
some scientists speculate that many of these may hold the keys to finding cures for some
of the most deadly diseases known to man. For example, the US National Cancer Institute
has catalogued some 3,000 plants with anti-cancer properties, 70 per cent of which are
found in tropical forests. Who knows what other secrets the rain forests hold?
Solutions to deforestation
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