What are the local and global consequences of deforestation?

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What are the local and global consequences of deforestation?

Intro

Deforestation is the large-scale removal of forest, prior to its replacement by other land uses. It is proceeding at about 17 million hectares each year between 1980 and 1990, annual deforestation rates were 1.2 per cent in Asia and the Pacific, 0.8 per cent in Latin America, and 0.7 per cent in Africa. Forest area is generally stable in Europe and North America, although the rate of transition from old-growth forest to other forms in North America is controversially high.

Global Consequences

Deforestation may be distinguished from forest degradation, which is a reduction in forest quality. The main worry for environmentalists and the world’s population is that many species are being lost as their habitats are being destroyed. In a rainforest, certain small areas are individual, specific habitats themselves. This means that if one small area of the rainforest is cleared, it could mean that a whole series of species are wiped out The two are linked, and result in several problems. A minimum of 4000 species are being wiped out each year due to deforestation. It is thought that the figure could be as many as 50000 per year. At the rate at which trees are being cut down, the world’s rainforests may disappear by the year 2030. They reduce bio-diversity (the range of habitat, species, and genetic types), particularly significant in tropical forests which are home to much of the world's bio-diversity. Deforestation robs the world of countless species, destroying crucial Biodiversity and losing species with potential uses in medicine, agriculture and industry. Biodiversity is important because it contributes to resiliency. . Forests play a major role in carbon storage; with their removal, excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may lead to global warming, with many problematic side-effects.

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Local Consequences

The culture and knowledge of many forest peoples have evolved through centuries of nurturing the forest; they are diminishing as forest area reduces, as access to forest is increasingly restricted, and as traditional rights are eroded by governments. Deforestation affects the livelihoods of between 200 and 500 million people who depend on forests for their food, shelter, and fuel. They cause soil erosion and watershed destabilization, soil erosion poses a real problem in regions where towns are surrounded by forests as it means bad conditions for plants and crops to grow on, plants are important as it is ...

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