What are some of the major and minor effects of deforestation?

Question

how does deforestation relate to global warming, and how does deforestation effect humans? please provide links and resources thanks

Answer 1

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

Answer 2

As far as the effect on humans, deforestation offers obvious economic gain and lifestyle enhancements, as well as increase in available land for farming, livestock and new construction.

As far as the environment goes, deforestation enhances the "greenhouse effect" and adversely affects the water cycle. Sometimes, deforestation can negatively effect diversification of species and natural habitats, and may even lead to extinction in rare cases.

Sometimes deforestation can increase soil erosion, too.

Answer 3

reduces animal life because they have to move to find new shelter

Answer 4

Deforestation has many negative environmental impacts.  First of course is the loss of habitat for plant and animal species.  When trees are cut down, a system that once had variation in vertical structure gets reduced to a system with no vertical structure.  

Next, there is decreased soil stability which leads to erosion.  Landslides can happen.  Sediment ends up in streams once it is washed from the site.  Valuable topsoil is lost.  

Fundamental ecosystem processes are significantly altered.  This includes the water cycle and nutrient cycles.  Trees do a good job of absorbing and utilizing water and creating wet microclimates.  Deforestation can lead to desertification.   Trees also capture and utilize nutrients like nitrogen.  High nitrogen content in the soil can lead to increased invasibility by weeds.

Deforestation also makes it harder for wildlife to migrate because they have to deal with patches of habitat, often without sufficient corridors.  

Deforestation requires the building of roads and the use of heavy machinery.  Roads act as corridors that facilitate the establishment of non-native species.  Heavy machinery compacts soils and also transports the seeds of weeds.  Abandoned logging roads also act as conduits for erosion, landsliding, and slumping; which lead to increased sedimentation of streams.

Plus its ugly.

Answer 5

It will effect humans

Answer 6

Plants produce oxygen.  We need oxygen.  The more the plants, the more oxygen.  The fewer the plants, the less oxygen.  Also a lot of species exist only in specialized zones like rain forests and they have chemical properties that sometimes are very helpful in medicine, once that species is eliminated its potential to help us is gone forever.

Answer 7

You might find some things here, at http://www.conflictrecovery.org click on conflict_futures. Indonesia is the third biggest source of CO2 and deforestation there is quite serious and has been accelerating now for the last few decades. This page also has some primary material on deforestation in South Sumatra that could be of interest to you as well:

http://conflictrecovery.org/sumsel.htm

Answer 8

there are many theories regarding the end result of deforestation.  Unfortunately, the forests which get the most press are limited to the tropical regions of the world (Amazonia namely).  Did you know Canada and Alaska combined have one of the largest boreal forests in the world.  In the contiguous U.S., Washington has the Olympic forest.  I suggest you investigate both sides of the argument and come up with your own conclusion.  

Try a few links and look into what they represent:

http://ran.org/who_we_are/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precautiona...

http://www.worldbank.org/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...

http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala...

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforest...  (? - conflicting info)

http://www.mongabay.com/brazil.html

http://american.edu/TED/MADAGAS.HTM

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3024...

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2005/...

http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/Envfacts/fac...

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...

http://amazon-river-swicki.eurekster.com...

http://photos.wildmadagascar.org/Defores...

Answer 9

I WILL ONLY TELL THAT WE WILL HAVE TO LIVE IN SUITS IF TREES ARE CUT DOWN BECAUSE TREES LIMIT THEREDUCTION OXYGEN.