Deforestation?

Question

We all know that deforestation is a HUGE issue around the world. We've become dependant on resources that trees provide (after they're cut down). Have we forgotten the wonderful benefits that trees provide while they're still living? Or have we just decided that the importance of the trees' afterlife outweighs all others? What are some alternative resources that could be used to prevent the destruction of trees? Are there any?

Answer 1

Environmental issues effect every life on this planet from the smallest parasite to the human race. The reason for this is simple. A single disruption in the Earth?s delicate balance can mean certain destruction of the very place that cradles the lives of many species. What is not so simple is finding alternatives to the now dangerous and confronting acts of planet degradation that have been afflicted on the planet over recent years. One such issue that requires consideration is deforestation. Trees have been or are being cut down at increasingly high rates. If this is not stopped many unfavorable side effects could result.

Why Trees Matter

To understand why deforestation is such a pressing and urgent issue, forests must first be given credit for what they bring to global ecosystems and the quality of life that all species maintain. Tropical Rainforests presently give a place to call home for 50% - 90% of all organisms, 90% of our relatives, the primates, and 50 million creatures that can live no place but the rich rainforests (World Rainforest Movement 16). Not only are other species at risk, but the human race also benefits from what the trees give. From something as minor as the spices that indulge food to life giving medicines, the rainforests amplify and save lives. According to the World Rainforest Movement, 25% of medicines come from the forests (28). This is a number that does not do justice to all the cures that have yet to be discovered or that have been destroyed. The forests give life, not only to other species, but they help to prolong the human race.

The forests have global implications not just on life but on the quality of it. Trees improve the quality of the air that species breath by trapping carbon and other particles produced by pollution. Trees determine rainfall and replenish the atmosphere. As more water gets put back in the atmosphere, clouds form and provide another way to block out the sun?s heat. Trees are what cool and regulates the earth?s climate in conjunction with other such valuable services as preventing erosion, landslides, and making the most infertile soil rich with life. Mother earth has given much responsibility to trees. Population Growth an Deforestation

So this leads into a very confusing question of the 20th century. Why are these trees being torn down? The World Wide Forest Report found that when the Roman Empire was in control of Europe 90% of the continent was forested. Today 500,000 hectors vanish in a single week ("Logging is the Major Cause of Global Deforestation" 1). There is no one easy answer as there are many causes at the root of deforestation. One is overpopulation in cities and developing countries. Population is continually growing in the third world. Some had land until increases in population forced them off it and they became landless peasants that are forced to look for land in the untouched forests. This movement to the forests is in some ways a result of government pressures. In place of implementing programs to help the poor these governments concentrate on the cheapest, easiest, way to keep poverty out of sight and give the poor no other choice but to force other species out and themselves in. According to Norman Myers, bad land tenure, a shortage of modern agricultural tools, and government neglect of subsistence farmers have put an influx of human interference in the forests. (37) The poor are pushed in further and further and destroy more every time they must move on.

What the poor do in the forests is the most devastating. In attempts to settle farmland, the poor become "shifted cultivators" and resort to using slash and burn methods of tree removal. Slashing and burning involves what its name implies, trees are cut down and the remains are burned. The ash is used as a fertilizer and the land is then used for farming or cattle grazing, however, the soil that is cleared in slash and burn is left infertile, the nutrients in the soil are quickly absorbed by surrounding organisms ("Deforestation" 1). The farmers must move on sometimes to other areas and repeat this process and worthy land and trees become scarce. For farmers in places like Brazil, slash and burn methods are the only way to effectively clear land of parasites and unwanted organisms; chemical means contaminate water and soil and farmers continue to turn to slashing and burning ("Slash and Burn Agriculture" 1). It has become so much a dilemma that a leading researcher, Myers, sees it of all the causes of deforestation, to be the number one cause (Myers 32).

Logging and Deforestation

The small farmer plays a big role, but it is modern industry that too cuts down the trees. The logging industry is fueled by the need for disposable products. 11 million acres a year are cut for commercial and property industries (Entity Mission 1). Peter Heller found that McDonald?s needs 800 square miles of trees to make the amount of paper they need for a year?s supply of packaging, Entity Mission found that British Columbia manufactures 7, 500,000 pairs of chopsticks a day, and the demand for fuel wood is so high that predictions say that there will be a shortage by the year 2000. Logging does too have its repercussions. The logging industry not only tries to accomplish all this but it even indirectly helps the "shifted cultivators" and others to do more damage. The roads that the loggers build to access the forests and generate hydroelectric power create an easy way for many people to try to manipulate the forest resources. The amount of damage that this adds to the forests can not be measured nor can that of the illegal logging. Some importers may even be buying illegally logged wood and not even have known it ("Logging is the Major Cause of Global Deforestation ? New WWF Report" 2).

Cattle Grazing and Deforestation

Another of the more devastating forces behind deforestation is cattle grazing. With the international growth of fast food chains this seems to be an evident factor in the clearing of trees today. Large corporations looking to buy beef for hamburger and even pet food seek cheap prices and are finding them with the growth of cattle grazing (Heller 3). In the Amazon region of South America alone there are 100,000 beef ranchers (Heller 3). As the burger giants of industrialized society are making high demands for more beef, more forests are being torn down. Statistics from less than a decade ago, 1989, indicate that 15,000 km squared of forests are used expressly for the purpose of cattle grazing (Myers 32). Once the trees are gone the land is often overgrazed. In some places the government wants this to happen. Cattle grazing is big profit that can?t be turned down.

Other Causes

Beyond the major causes of deforestation lie some supplementary ones that too stack the odds against forests around the globe. Acid rain and the building of dams have their share of harmful effects. The race to produce cash crops such as fruit, spices, sugar tobacco, soap, rubber, paper, and cloth has given cause to many to try to farm them by using soil and other products that can be retrieved by destroying the forests. Even those in industrialized countries may participate in the destruction of forests in the 3rd world. The need for products in industrialized countries drives production in other poorer, less developed countries. This production is at the cost of the trees and the services that they provide.

The Effects

Deforestation presents multiple societal and environmental problems. The immediate and long-term consequences of global deforestation are almost certain to jeopardize life on Earth, as we know it. Some of these consequences include: loss of biodiversity; the destruction of forest-based-societies; and climatic disruption.

What is Lost

Deforestation is causing a loss of biological diversity on an unprecedented scale. Although tropical forests cover only six percent of Earth?s land surface, they happen to contain between 70% and 90% of all of the world?s species (Myers, 12). As a result of deforestation, we are losing between 50 and 100 animal and plant species each day (Myers 12). Inevitably, the loss of species entails a loss of genetic resources. Many of these species now facing the possibility of extinction are of enormous potential to humans in many areas; especially medicine. As of 1991, over 25% of the world?s pharmaceutical products were derived from tropical plants (Myers). By contributing to the extinction of multiple species of plants and animals, we might be destroying the cures for many of the diseases that plague the human race today.

The world?s forests, particularly tropical rainforests, are home to over 10 million members of the "last surviving intimately resource-based cultures" (GFF 3). Given the importance of forest products to the daily lives of forest peoples, the destruction of tropical forests entails the destruction of tribal populations as a whole. Aboriginal people world-wide have had their land literally stolen from them by governments and industries, whose intent is to turn "natural capital into hard currency" (Dudley 11). As the Global Futures Foundation states, "there have been more extinctions of tribal peoples in this century than any other?Even in the rare cases when forest dwellers are compensated for this loss, the changes visited upon their cultures by the inexorable expansion of industrial culture are devastating." Without a doubt, deforestation has had a profound effect on cultural diversity throughout the forest regions, and ultimately, the world.

Erosion

The lushness of the world?s tropical forests is somewhat deceptive. Although these forests assume to be lush and full, the underlying soils are very poor, almost all the nutrients being bound up in the vegetation. The problem is that once forests have been cut down, essential nutrients are washed out of the soil all-together. This leads to soil erosion. As of now, about 80% of the soils in the humid tropics are acidic and infertile (Dudley 21). When there are no trees to keep the soil in place, the soil becomes ripe for erosion. It dries and cracks under the sun?s heat. Once the soil temperature exceeds 25 degrees centigrade, volatile nutrient ingredients like nitrogen can be lost, further reducing the fertility of the remaining soil (Myers 14). Furthermore, rainfall washes remaining nutrients into rivers. This means that replanting trees will not necessarily help to solve the problems of deforestation; by the time the trees have matured, the soil might be completely stripped of essential nutrients. Eventually, cultivation in the forest regions will be impossible, and the land will be useless. The soil erosion will lead to permanent impoverishment of huge land areas.

The social impact of soil erosion can be quite severe. Those who settle into the forest regions are forced to move every year or so due to soil erosion. They find areas where they can cultivate. When those areas are no longer good for growing, they move to another region.

Flooding

Flooding is a quite serious consequence of deforestation. Clearing the forest dramatically increases the surface run-off from rainfall, mainly because a greater proportion of the rain reaches the ground due to a lack of vegetation which would suck up the excess rainfall. "Tropical forests can receive as much rain in an hour as London would expect in a wet month, and a single storm has been measured as removing 185 tonnes of topsoil per hectare" (Dudley 21). In tropical regions where the forests are dense, flooding is not as serious a problem because there is vegetation to absorb the rainfall. It is in areas where there is little vegetation that there is a problem. Hence, to avoid the disastrous effects of flooding, tropical forests need to remain dense and lush.

Climate Change

Although all consequences of deforestation are potentially serious, perhaps the most serious consequence is that of climate change due to the loss of trees. Earth has an atmosphere which contains a variety of gases, all in a delicate balance, to ensure life on Earth. One of these gases in Earth?s atmosphere is carbon dioxide; a gas which helps moderate heat loss to outer space. Insulating gases such as carbon dioxide are called "greenhouse gasses because their function is much like that of the glass in a greenhouse: they allow solar heat into the system, but discourage its escape" (GFF 3). Other greenhouse gases include methane, chlorofluorocarbons, nitrous oxide, and ozone. If there are additional greenhouse gases, there will be a gradual increase in temperature on Earth?s surface. This could lead to changes in weather patterns, sea levels, and other cycles in nature that directly affect life on Earth (GFF 3).

The process of greenhouse gas increase is quite simple. Carbon dioxide levels increase for a number of reasons; but one of the main factors contributing to the increase of carbon levels is decay of woody material. The only way to help moderate the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is through plant life. Alive plants and trees absorb the carbon dioxide from decaying plants and trees. With a decrease in trees and plant life (due to deforestation) it is much harder to moderate these levels. Ultimately, the amount of carbon will increase due to a lack of plant life present to keep the carbon dioxide levels in check. This whole process leads to an "albedo effect which reflects more heat and light back into the atmosphere than would be the case if the sun shone on green trees?" (Dudley 23). The bottom line is that the increase in the carbon level and other greenhouse gas levels into the atmosphere leads to an increase in temperature, and eventually a change in climate and weather.

Discussion

We as human beings may not understand the severity of the possible consequences that deforestation poses. Since deforestation has had no severe effect on us yet, we ignore the problem. Everywhere you go, you see pieces of paper on the ground, people using multiple tissues to wipe their noses, and countless people pulling excessive amounts of brown paper out of the paper towel dispensers in lavatories. These are just few of the sources of paper that we use each day, without any thought whatsoever.

What we must realize is that the paper products we use daily could have been a part of a forest which functioned to enrich and hold soil, absorb carbon dioxide, collect and recycle water, release oxygen, and regulate climate. Some companies do plant trees to produce the kinds of the products needed by industry to spare the older forests but many do not. By wasting paper products, we are wasting forests. The simple fact is that the more paper we use, the more forests need to be cut down to serve our paper needs.

Many people might not consider the possible consequences of deforestation serious. They might say, "What if: a few people lose their homes; we experience a little flooding here and there; the temperature rises a little bit; we miss out on a few new medicines; we kill off a few species which we never knew existed in the first place; the soil loses its nutrients." Ignorant people like these do not realize the severity of these consequences.

By destroying people?s homes, we are cheating ourselves out of having a more diverse world. Flooding will cause billions upon billions of dollars in repairs; and those repairs will most likely be done by the good old U.S., with our tax dollars. If the temperature rises a bit, this will throw mother nature totally off course. It will affect farming, the tourism industry, travel, sea levels, and much more. If what Myers found is correct and 25% of medicines come form the rain forests, then there is a big change that with modern technologies that many more could be found. Without knowing what is being destroyed, we might not be missing out on just a few new medicines. We might be killing our chances of finding the cures for diseases such as Cancer, Aids, Multiple Sclerosis, or a multitude of others. And if by chance we lose all of the nutrients in the soil because of soil erosion, cultivation will be next to impossible. After thinking about these consequences, try convincing anyone that the ramifications of deforestation will not prove to be quite disastrous.

Forests were put on Earth for a reason; they help to maintain a delicate balance between all of nature?s elements. By destroying forests through ranching, logging, farming, industrial practice, etc., we are putting this delicate balance in jeopardy.

There is no cure for deforestation. Sure, many people talk of reforestation; however that is just not a true solution. Although replanting the forests that have been destroyed seems like a good idea, it actually does no good. Often times the new trees are not the same species as the originals. Also, by the time the trees grow and mature, the soil has already lost much of the nutrients it once had. Old forests and new forests are not the same and it is the old forest that need to be protected.

The only way to ensure that we will not encounter any of the consequences of deforestation is to stop destroying the forests all together. We would have to stop cutting down all trees, no matter what our needs were. Since this is totally impractical as of now, the only thing we can do is use forest products in moderation. However this idea of moderation needs to be put into practice immediately. We as people should take care of this problem before it gets to the point where we can no longer fix it. Instead of putting the problem on the back burner until we can no longer ignore it, how about we remedy it now so it never threatens us to begin with. The sad fact is that once the forests are gone, we won?t be able to fix the damage which we have caused.

Conclusion

So where can we go from here? There is no one easy solution as deforestation is caused by many things. One option is decreasing the need for the amount of products that are harvested from the rainforests. If all countries, especially developed ones, enforced programs that used recycling, the need for disposable products would be diminished and the loggers would not have a business. If the demand is cut off, there is no need for the supply. Other solutions involve money. One that could help to alleviate deforestation is providing aide to foreign countries so they give homes to those who are at high risk of becoming "shifted cultivators". The trick is convincing tax payers to reach into their pockets. Another would be to appeal to the American public to settle for higher prices on the cash crops that are imported to this country for cheap prices especially that burger at the local fast food joint. If Americans are willing to pay more, corperations such as those in the fast food industry can stop petitioning other countries to farm the rainforests for the manufacture of the materials they need to make their products.

The immediate effects of deforestation may not yet be felt, but if this generation doesn?t feel it the next generation and their children will be the ones to suffer. It is the actions of the human race that can make or break the future of the planet. In the end everyone loses unless a solution can be reached. This is easier said than done but the choices that lie ahead on this matter carry severe consequences that will forever change they way that all things live if they are able to live at all.

Answer 2

I think so we can go for "reforestation "just after deforestation!!!!!

If u cut a tree immediately u plant a tree...

If this process continues then we would be success in reforestation.

Answer 3

The easiest thing for most people to do is to cut back on how much paper they use and recycle as much as possible.  First find ways to reduce: you can go online and opt out of junk mail, you can choose NOT to get a receipt when you pay at the pump, you can proofread a paper before you print it out, you can ask yourself if you REALLY need a hardcopy before you hit the print key.  After that, you can and should recycle everything in your life that is made out of paper: cereal boxes, greeting cards, newspapers, etc.  Did you know that the richest woman in the world became a billionaire by recycling paper garbage in China?

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/...

Lot's of recycled plastic finds a new life as a kind of lumber that is now commonly used in decks, park benches, railway tracks/trusses, etc.  Houses are even being built with the stuff.  It lasts longer then wood, is more structurally consistent, and doesn't need to be treated with harsh chemicals.

An alternative to hardwood floors and fences is bamboo.  Bamboo is actually a grass, and it grows much faster then trees. On a floor it looks great, like a light blond hardwood.

If you must buy wood, make sure it comes from a sustainably managed forest.  At lumber yards, wood carrying an FSC label (Forest Stewardship Council) comes from forests that have been certified as being sustainably managed.  

Above all, we should support the economic development of the world's poorest nations.  Poor nations tend to be where deforestation is the worst, since their families rely on wood for heating and cooking and also because poor nations tend to have economies centered around natural resource extraction, making forests vulnerable to over-harvesting.  As nations become better off they realize that they can't afford to deforest everything, China discovered that the hard way when deforested hillsides failed to absorb rains and thousands died in flooding a few years back.  In developed nations, satellite photos actually show forest cover INCREASING as abandoned industrial areas return to nature.

Answer 4

What I find is amazing is this..  I was born in Oregon, the heart of the Lumber Industry.  My father was a Lumberjack, my Uncles, all Lumberjacks. My Grandfather etc. Back in the late 70's all of the Lumberjacks used to say that there would be a Lumber shortage some day, while the logs just kept being loaded onto the ships, bound for Japan. Now we have a Lumber shortage, because the resources ar all gone. Meantime, when there's a disaster like Greensburg and Katrina- The people just push the lumber into piles and burn it up! Why can't the materials be reused? The answer is recycling anything that can be reused, many of which can be made into reusable building materials. Even plastics!  We just need to start using our heads and remembering that we are fast running out of resources.

Answer 5

Environmental issues effect every life on this planet from the smallest parasite to the human race. The reason for this is simple. A single disruption in the Earth�s delicate balance can mean certain destruction of the very place that cradles the lives of many species. What is not so simple is finding alternatives to the now dangerous and confronting acts of planet degradation that have been afflicted on the planet over recent years. One such issue that requires consideration is deforestation. Trees have been or are being cut down at increasingly high rates. If this is not stopped many unfavorable side effects could result.

Why Trees Matter

To understand why deforestation is such a pressing and urgent issue, forests must first be given credit for what they bring to global ecosystems and the quality of life that all species maintain. Tropical Rainforests presently give a place to call home for 50% - 90% of all organisms, 90% of our relatives, the primates, and 50 million creatures that can live no place but the rich rainforests (World Rainforest Movement 16). Not only are other species at risk, but the human race also benefits from what the trees give. From something as minor as the spices that indulge food to life giving medicines, the rainforests amplify and save lives. According to the World Rainforest Movement, 25% of medicines come from the forests (28). This is a number that does not do justice to all the cures that have yet to be discovered or that have been destroyed. The forests give life, not only to other species, but they help to prolong the human race.

The forests have global implications not just on life but on the quality of it. Trees improve the quality of the air that species breath by trapping carbon and other particles produced by pollution. Trees determine rainfall and replenish the atmosphere. As more water gets put back in the atmosphere, clouds form and provide another way to block out the sun�s heat. Trees are what cool and regulates the earth�s climate in conjunction with other such valuable services as preventing erosion, landslides, and making the most infertile soil rich with life. Mother earth has given much responsibility to trees. Go here and read complete, very long but very informative ! Plant a Tree Program

DEFORESTATION - A Global Problem with Individual Consequences

Deforestation is a problem of growing significance all over the world. It is especially acute in tropical countries. All of us are affected by this problem, but no one more than the rural poor who make their living in and around the forest.

There are nearly a half-a-billion subsistence farmers worldwide. Constantly fighting starvation and utterly dependent on their environment for survival, they are often trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and deforestation.

Threatened by land which no longer produces, rains that no longer come, and springs which are dry, they clear the forest for agriculture or sell charcoal to survive, further degrading their land.

This cycle can be broken! And you can help Floresta break the cycle by assisting us in planting trees.

Floresta has several options for planting trees.

You may donate money designated specifically for planting trees. Floresta can plant a tree and see it to maturity in one of its programs for only $1.00!

Make a donation designated for trees.

You may also plant trees as a gift, a memorial or to honor a friend. We have attractive cards commemorating your gift and any number of trees can be planted. Not only will these trees be a lasting tribute and restore the environment, they will help a poor family out of poverty.

Gift Cards

Gift Card Sets

Offset your personal Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Dioxide is one of the leading greenhouse gasses, contributing to global warming. Each of us emits CO2 in countless ways: when we breathe, when we use electricity, when we fly and, most notably, when we drive.

Trees, on the other hand, absorb CO2. You can offset much of your personal environmental impact by planting trees. We’ll have a CO2 calculator coming soon, so you can tell both what your CO2 impact is, and how many trees you need to plant to offset it.

If you drive an average size car 15,000 miles a year, planting 25 trees will go a long way towards neutralizing your carbon and limiting your negative impact on the environment.

Similarly planting 2 trees will help to offset a coast to coast airline flight.

Answer 6

If we made bigger chainsaws, this problem would go away faster because we would run out of trees faster, yeah for chainsaws!

Answer 7

DEFORESTATION 2 LEAVE GAIA GASPING

trees are coming down all the time ,

in My town trucks loaded with huge logs of exotic timber leave the mountains with permits bought from corupt oficials almost nightly

we can only guess at the exatct amount but from my house we can see many bare patches on the mountains and the river is constantly muddy in the last 3 years ,because topsols with out theprotection of the forrests is washed into the rivers ,

this is just one place and this is happening all over mexico ,the Market for the wood being the USA.

here is a general note on deforestation

CAN DEFORESTATION BE STOPPED

Almost impossible

the Indians or local people would cut everything down and burn the forrest to replace it with harmfull short term farming killing the soil in no time

expanding populations and expanding farming ,that has to keep pace with the expanding populations are very strong forces that encroach upon the rainforest's

clearing them for farming and settlement areas .

that and the giant networks of roads that have exchanged forests for asphalt all over the planet

In Mexico is a famous jungle that the Media has been trying to save for years

the Naturists ,and the government ,keep watch .laws are made for protection the wild and to forbid logging.

TV put out a series of documentaries

there are campaigns in the News papers

and all of this has not made the slightest difference

Rainforest's always are in third world countries and always in third world countries corruption and the need for money s highest

the jungle gets smaller by the day

more and more farmers move in .and burn the trees

it is an impossible situation

as long as there is poverty and an increasing birth rate in these regions the destruction will continue

they are too easily tempted to sell of exotic animals to the unscroupelous people who buy them.for the market that exists in the USA.

we must look for ways to improve economic situations on the edges of Nature .

the only way to preserve the forrest is to devellop eco tourism under strict control that has limited acces ,and use the local people in the concept as guides ,hotel staff and get them to start home industries of artifacts .

eco tourism is the only concept that profits by a healthy back ground with out harming it

IN THE PAST

in the days of the dinosaurs this planet was under an aquiferus manta ,a mist that covered the entire earth ,and there were very few desserts .

Count how many there are today,and most of them are as a result of mans actions.

the sahara used to be forrests

arabia ,irak ,iran used to be fertile lands in biblical times

Ghengas Kahn burned all the forrests here and filled the well with water and so turning vast lands into dessert.

the Spanish Armada deforested Spain

.the Phoenician fleet deforested Lebanon

some more places are everywhere where there are or where forrests and wild life

Madagascar a botanic paradise is now destroyed

the exotic animals sold or killed ,the forest slash and burned for agriculture ,the coastal water poluted by topsoils washed fronm the denuded moutains by the rains.

many many countries in Africa (because of poverty and war as well as greedy farming )

Borneo because of the expensive timber

india ,China ,Mexico ,South Americas Amazonia,

Europe because of civilization,USA,Japan because of overpopulation,

read a planet under stress ,plan B --by Lester E Brown.

it is in an Adobe print out as well on the net.

REFORRESTATION

so to counter act these fatal processes we must reforrest and at the same time reduce our carbon emissions.

most governments are aware of these and many first world countries now include programs to reduce their carbon emissions.

the world bank pays large subsidies for farmers to plant trees especially a tree called Paulownia elongate carolinia,because it is one of the better ones that capture carbon.

HOWEVER

1000 trees that are replanted do not come anywhere near as producing the same effect or fullfilling the same function ,as far as carbon absorbtion ,production of humidity,climatic effects as the absorbtion or release of heat ,as ONE SINGLE FULLY GROWN TREE.

people keep saying we are good we cut down a thousand trees and replanted 20 thousand more

This means nothing in terms of environmental effects.

it takes at least 10 to 20 years before one of these replanted trees makes the same impact as the ones that are removed

AND NOW.................

Answer 8

Say "NO!" to toilet rolls! Do like the millions do in moslem countries - USE YOUR HAND!!!

Answer 9

Come on! That is such an old topic. We have been replanting and growing trees for decades.  Lighten up!  More trees are destroyed in forrest fires caused by decaying foilage than any other method

Answer 10

we need serious population control and reduction down to 100 million humans for the whole planet, kill the source of the deforestation.

Answer 11

Yeah, lets kill 5 billion people to save some trees.  Great idea.

Answer 12

yes, i hate deforestation

Answer 13

Timber is re-newable. Plastic bags is an alternative?, vegetation with water based glue (paper) breaks down faster and cleaner. In construction altenatives can be Iron, Aluminium etc. Which has to be mined, usually open cast so as to have to clearfell forest and damage topography, not to mention pollution from extraction methods and machinery. Deforestation with a replacment system is by for the best solution when it comes to ecological welfare.

Trees are pretty but they are renewable. Every thing ends up back in the soil in the end, better to be vegetation than plastic and other synthetic alternatives to timber. We should be incouraging the use of timber, not questioning it.

Answer 14

Dforestation is a hugeissue in the "developed" countries. In the Third World people are too worried about starving tommor to worry about what global warming will do the the rich people. The poor "slash and burn" millions of acres or are paid by big corporations to do it. Many of these people don't even sell the felled trees- they pour diesel on them and burn them so they can plant soybeans or raise  cattle. In So. America- Brasil to Argentina -  at the end of season the

whole region is obscured by smoke.  michael

Answer 15

yea it is a huge problem.  i think we need to solve this problem, quick.  the best i could think of in terms of saving trees and still produce paper is use other sources such as bamboo sticks, flax, kenaf, or even better HEMP.  hemp grows very quick compared to trees, uses less resources to grow, and the fibers are very strong.  if hemp was never banned then we wouldnt be having any problems with deforestation.

Answer 16

I don't know the answer to your question but I do agree with the first part.  Trees are beautiful and provide homes for many kinds of life.  I live in Buffalo and on Oct 11 of last year we had a freak winter storm that left a couple of feet of super wet snow on everything.  Trees, branches and wires down all over the place.   Power out for a good week.   Almost all streets were impassable.  Almost every mature tree in the city alone had some type of damage (except the oldest tree in the city, which amazingly lost a few twigs only).  The outlying areas also lost lots of trees.

Now, instead of hiring an arborist (okay maybe too costly) or someone else to inspect a lot of the mature trees that had major limb damage, this spring they just chopped the marked trees down, leaving the stumps.  The city could have put out a plea for landscapers who would be willing to help out with this for little or no cost.  It is their city too.  People really worked together during that storm so I'm sure some of them would have helped out.  It was amazing.  They say they will plant new ones for free.   If they didn't take the stumps out where are they planting the new ones?  Planting new trees is wonderful but how long will it take these little trees to mature?  I felt they should examine each tree, no matter how long it took and only chopped down the ones that were a danger.   I guess I should be thankful they are at least planting new ones - and seeing is believing in regards to that.

Enicollis 25 - Trees help create and sustain the oxygen we breath.  So after selfish people like you kiill off the trees, what are your 5 million people you are so worried about going to breath then?  Why not take care of the situation now?

Answer 17

You're absolutely right.There is a huge deforestation problem.

I don't know if you've heard, but not all paper is recycleable...They could equip recycling companies properly to be able to recycle all paper. They could make magazines illegal to distribute...Do online catalogs only.I recycle so many in a single week...it's rediculous. There are several things that can happen to save trees...They just don't want to spend the money to do so.

I do believe people are taking tree  for granted...They are the earth's filters. We need as many as we can get.

Look at all the trees being cut down for all the new "suburbias" for everyone who is trying to live like "The Jones' ". There are so many homes out there that are vacant, old, and could use some fixin' up, but already there.... People have just gotten too lazy...They would rather buy a new house, rather than fix up an old one. It's sad. I hope I'm dead & gone before the last tree is cut down....

Answer 18

Trees are a renewable resource, and if managed correctly we will always have them to admire.

I will admit that I find a nice piece of quarter sawed Mahogany better looking dead, than alive.