Deforestation

Many forests are destroyed for farming, livestock, mining, or urbanization, and some natural causes

The Problem

Humans are cutting down thousands of acres of trees in many forests on our planet. These forests house habitats for many living things and provide oxygen and carbon for the soil and other plants. These acres of destroyed forest are used to farm palm oil, soy, cattle, paper, timber, minerals, and cocoa. These products are then sold to big companies that make tons of money off of the destruction of our planet.


Major Themes

I am researching why deforestation is needed, what we can do to reduce it, and who is most affected by it.

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Humans are responsible for more than half of the deforestation on our planet, and these causes include but are not limited to, farming, livestock, mining, and drilling. The other causes that account for the rest of the destruction usually include forestry practices, wildfires, urbanization, or drought. It is not always due to humans, but we are the main culprit. Deforestation also causes the loss of habitats. In fact, 80% of earth's land animals live in forests. The destruction of these habitats threatens species, especially birds, with extinction. This practice can also cause the spread of diseases. Allowing humans and animals to live near each other can be dangerous.

I have chosen to focus on deforestation because I am passionate about keeping our planet healthy. I love animals and hate to see their homes destroyed, and I love trees. It was also a good topic because it relates to many of our five themes—mostly human-environment interaction because of humans' evident impact on our planet.

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Research Questions

What are the main causes?

Can we reduce these causes or find a solution that does not involve this practice?

Who or what is most affected by it?

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Annotations

This source explains the major and minor causes of deforestation. It tells us why humans and animals need trees and how they benefit from them. It also explains how deforestation affects us, humans, animals, and our planet. I enjoyed reading this source because of how straightforward it is.

This source helped me understand the content by providing examples. I learned that deforestation is linked to the spread of diseases. The proximity of animals and humans has allowed zoonotic diseases to spread. I liked that this source provided numbers. Numeric proof that deforestation is not suitable for our planet.

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This source reviews the leading causes of deforestation and why we need forests. It mentions the two main regions of forests on our planet (taiga or boreal), which are found across North America, Europe, and Asia. This source was unique in that it discussed how road development causes deforestation. It also provides multiple examples of deforestation around the world.

This source contributes to my research by providing me not only with the causes and impacts of deforestation but also telling me why NASA studies it. To help leaders around the world find sustainable strategies to prevent deforestation. It also has a lot of information about how vital biodiversity is and how the destruction of our forests impacts that and, in turn, how it impacts us. I learned that 31% of the earth's land surface is forest; this helps put into perspective the importance of maintaining and restoring our forests.

North American Forest Dynamics Dataset [9]

Zipperer, Wayne C., et al. “Urban Development and Environmental Degradation.” US Forest Service Research and Development, USDA, 1 Jan. 1970, www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/60941.

This source begins by estimating how many people will be living in cities by 2050. This leads to urbanization and its effects. This author mainly focused on the impacts of urbanization that come from deforestation and less on deforestation its self. This source's main point is that habitat loss is the greatest threat to biodiversity.

It contributes to my research by explaining other less-mentioned concepts, such as urban stream syndrome and the urban heat island effect. The source also discusses population and how this causes deforestation, which leads to more urbanization, which in turn leads to more environmental issues. I like this source because I learned about concepts I have never heard of in a small amount of material.

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This source is all about the Amazon rainforest. It tells the story of natives who live in the forest and struggle to defend their protected land from loggers and farmers. The author tells us that if things continue the way that they are now, the Amazon will cease to exist and change things for all life on earth. The sources focus on illegal farming and logging that is mainly overlooked by the unconcerned president. The author's goal is to spread awareness about what is truly going on in the rainforest and how it affects Brazil and the planet.

This source has provided information about illegal farming and logging, how native land is defied, how natives are disrespected, and what happens when the Amazon ceases to exist. This source uses pathos to grab its reader's attention, and it does a great job at it. The natives' stories are devastating, and from them, I learned about their hardships and now understand their frustration with their economy and government.

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This source is about the illegal and legal avocado farming industry in Mexico. It estimates that over 85% of avocados in the US come from Mexico. Farmers deforest land to expand their production because the demand for avocados is so high.

I learned about the Michoacan area and its use for avocado farming. This contributes to my research by providing another angle of deforestation. Brazil is known for farming cattle, while Mexico is known for farming avocados, and deforestation is used in both practices.

Reporting on Whole-of-Government Approaches to Stopping International Deforestation - United States Department of State, US Department of State, 31 May 2023,  www.state.gov/reporting-on-whole-of-government-approaches-to-stopping-international-deforestation/ .

This source discusses the government's actions to reduce deforestation. President Biden's order on   Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies (E.O. 14072)  submitted two reports on stopping international deforestation. The  Combatting International Deforestation Associated with Agricultural Commodity Production  report addresses the primary driver and a range of approaches, and the  Reducing International Deforestation Through U.S. Government International Programming, Assistance, Finance, Investment, Trade, and Trade Promotion  report provides insights and options on how they can address international deforestation and land conservation.

This information is helpful to my research because it provides another point of view to the problem. The government's action is significant because it can pull strings. Although, it's important to remember that there is also a lot of illegal destruction that goes on no matter what the government says.

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Zimmer, Katarina. “Deforestation Is Leading to More Infectious Diseases in Humans.” Science, National Geographic, 22 Nov. 2019,  www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/deforestation-leading-to-more-infectious-diseases-in-humans 

This source aims to educate people about the spread of zoonotic diseases from deforestation. Believe it or not, malaria comes from mosquitoes that live in pools of water near deforested land. Fruit bats are forced out of their home and found refuge in trees at a Malayasion orchard. The fruit bats sickened the pigs, who then passed the Nipah virus to humans. 105 people died.

My research must include all the effects of deforestation; this one, I wasn't expecting. It is disheartening to know that so many humans and animals die because of deforestation and due to greed. After reading this source, I feel that I have a strong understanding of the causes and effects.

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Interpretation & Conclusion

After doing my research, I have learned a lot about the causes of deforestation and its effects, the Amazon rainforest, cattle farming, palm oil farming, avocado farming, logging, the spread of zoonotic diseases, why we need to preserve our forests and more.

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These are some quotes that stuck out to me and show what I have learned:

  • "Palm oil can be found in everything from shampoo to saltine crackers." (Nunez)
  • "An estimated 60% of emerging infectious diseases come from animals, and a major cause of viruses jump from wildlife to humans is habitat loss, often through deforestation." (Nunez)
  • "With wild habitats destroyed and human life ever-expanding, the line between animal and human areas blurs, opening the door to zoonotic diseases. In 2014, for example, the Ebola virus killed over 11,000 people in West Africa after fruit bats transmitted the disease to a toddler who was playing near trees where bats were roosting." (Nunez)
  • "Biodiversity matters for another reason: plants and animals in the rainforest may hold the cures for diseases and ways to improve the food we produce. Many of these plants and animals may not have been discovered yet." (NASA)
  • "5 decades ago Brazil incentivized millions of its people to colonize the Amazon. Today their logging yards, cattle enclosures, and soy farms sit on the fringes of a vanishing forest" (Sandy)
  • "If things continue as they are now, the Amazon might not exist at all within a few generations, with dire consequences for all life on earth." (Sandy)
  • "Agribusiness in Brazil generates nearly a quarter of the country's GDP, and the Amazon alone has over 50 million cattle." (Sandy)
  • "The forces set in play in the Amazon could have serious global consequences." (Sandy)
  • "Forest dieback is strongly interconnected with other phenomena such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, which would cause sea levels to rise, and the degradation of frozen soil in the Arctic known as the permafrost, which would release greenhouse gases held in the ice as well as long-dormant diseases" (Sandy)
  • "In the years 2000-2010, it was estimated that the expansion of avocado farming contributed to 1,700 acres of deforestation per year." (Hansen)
  • "Over the past two decades, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that deforestation, by triggering a complex cascade of events, creates the conditions for a range of deadly pathogens -- such as Nipah and Lassa viruses, and the parasites that cause malaria and Lyme disease -- to spread to people." (Zimmer)

The issue of deforestation can relate to many topics/themes that we have discussed in class. Firstly, human-environment interaction. As we interact with the land and take its resources, we slowly destroy it. We use natural resources for many products and consumption, but unfortunately, we do not have sustainable processes to acquire the resources and leave the land as it was found. Second, movement. Humans tend to make more humans, and as our population grows, we require more resources and space. So, on top of the resources and space we already take from the land with unsustainable processes, we will take more and more and more until it's all gone because humans are greedy. Lastly, I decided to link the location, place, and region together because their relation to the topic is similar. Forests do not grow all over our planet; only 31% of the earth's land is forest. That is not a lot when you think about it, but 80% of our land mammals live in these forests and depend on them to live. These locations are of utmost importance and should be treated with more respect, but like I said, humans are greedy and won't stop, even if it means accelerating the extinction of animals, forests, and eventually ourselves.

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Deforestation is a huge problem, a way bigger one than most people know. If we do not get ahold of our destruction, then it will change the course of humanity altogether.

In conclusion, humans suck. Literally. We suck the earth of it's resources to fulfill our own needs, and when those resources dry up, we complain and find something else to destroy.

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#preserveourforests

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