Madewell 1

Mitchell Madewell

Professor Leonard

English 1201

1 May 2022

Is Cutting Down Trees Even That Bad?

Imagine the year 2050. Corn, wheat, and coffee are no longer viable sustenance sources.

They have not been able to grow on a large scale in the past couple of years. Other crop growth

cycles are dwindling. People come home from work to see their houses burned out from raging

wildfires. The air is constantly filthy. People step in for fresh air, no longer out. Air purifiers are

as common as refrigerators. Does this sound like a world people want to live in? Deforestation

can cause this exact situation to happen. Deforestation is the biggest contributor to climate

change. Deforestation affects climate change in many ways such as carbon dioxide being

released from agricultural burning, loss of biodiversity causing broken ecosystems, and urban

sprawl adding to anthropogenic carbon release. In, “Deforestation and Climate Change,” Bennett

states “Every year 46-58 thousand square miles of forest are lost to deforestation, which is equal

to an astounding 48 football fields of forest disappearing every minute” (1). This is a very

alarming statistic. This is tough to even begin to comprehend. Forty-eight football fields worth of

precious animals and plants that are vital to keeping ecosystems healthy and the soil nutritious.

Deforestation disrupts many things that the people do not realize, especially climate change.

Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, pastureland and croplands have greatly increased in

the specific area of Brazil called Mato Grosso. Mato Grasso falls between the Amazon, Pantanal

biomes, and Cerrado which allowed it to become an early deforestation hotspot.

 Madewell 2

Figure 1 shows use of land in Mato Grosso over 16 years. Land used for pasture is greatly
increased and substantial. The increase of bunched croplands is also displayed between the
years. (Kushnig et al).

Mato Grosso is a perfect example of the deforestation that has occured in Brazil and around the

globe in the past 20 years. Much of Earth’s forests get converted to pastureland and cropland for

economic gain. There are many other ways to find land for agricultural use, rather than

deforesting. Brazil is known as one of the places that have suffered the most from deforestation.

Brazil is home to the largest rainforest on Earth. The Amazon Rainforest, if deforested further,

can have a huge impact on the entire globe and not just surrounding regions. In “Simulated

Changes in Northwest U.S. Climate in Response to Amazon Deforestation” Medvigy et al

explain this, “Numerical models have long predicted that the deforestation of the Amazon would

lead to large regional changes in precipitation and temperature” (1). This starts with how

deforestation affects the buildup of carbon levels within the Earth’s atmosphere.
 Madewell 3

Everyone knows that plants and vegetation are what provide humans and all other living

things with oxygen. Animals provide the vegetation with carbon dioxide, and the vegetation

gives the animals oxygen. What happens when someone removes the vegetation and the animals

that breathe the oxygen. The carbon starts to build up, and less oxygen is produced. If enough of

the vegetation in any given area is removed consequences will begin to ensue. This is exactly

what deforestation does. Yale Environment 360 interviewed Carlos Nobre, the greatest Brazilian

expert on the climates change and the Amazon Rainforest. He clarifies how the rainforest will no

longer be a carbon sink and rather a carbon source. A carbon sink is an area on the globe where

carbon dioxide can be stored. In the Amazon, carbon dioxide is taken out of the atmosphere at a

rate of between 1 billion to 2 billion a year (Nobre). Since the Amazon Rainforest is very

biodiverse and has many different types of carbon-absorbing vegetation it is known as a carbon

sink. If people are deforesting the trees and other plants this will take away from its carbon-

storing capabilities. This will cause yet another carbon sink to be completely depleted of its

abilities.

The Earth’s forests store more carbon than in the entire atmosphere. That means most of

the carbon is literally in the trees humans are cutting and burning down rather than stored out of

sight in the atmosphere. A quote to support this from Bennett is, “Furthermore, forests around

the world store more than double the amount of carbon dioxide than is found in the

atmosphere. This means that when areas are deforested, the carbon dioxide stored in those trees

is released into the atmosphere” (17). This fundamentally shows that the more carbon there is,

the less amount of oxygen is being produced. Which, in turn, means that there is less oxygen-

producing vegetation. When this extra carbon has nowhere to go it can leech into the ocean and

atmosphere causing higher temperatures in the water and on land. When extra carbon is leeched
 Madewell 4

into the water it can cause the oceans to warm and become more acidic. Extra carbon also

disrupts the water cycle which provides living things with this necessity. In the end for farmers at

least, it will be costing them more money than they realize. A quote from Bennett states, “When

the trees in the area are cut down for agricultural purposes, it affects the success of local crops.

With less naturally occurring water, farmers have to make a more intensive effort to ensure that

their crops are properly hydrated, which can cost the farmers even more money” (20).

Figure 2. This figure demonstrates transpiration’s effect on the water cycle. (Climate Institute,
United States Geological Survey)

Most farmers are worried about how their crops can be converted to cash to feed their families.

Who would not be? This is why governments need to change. Once more laws can be enacted,

the common people will not have to destroy the environment to feed their families. The only

people to blame for this is the politicians and leaders that are not enforcing or creating more laws
 Madewell 5

to stop deforestation and other ways that hurt the environment. The people might think they are

doing the right thing for their communities, but deforesting can ultimately have the exact

opposite effect.

The next largest item that deforestation affects is biodiversity loss. When trees are cut or

burned out that means they are killing the native animal species that live there as well. The

Amazon Rainforest has one of the largest spots of biodiversity in the world. If just one species in

that ecosystem dies off due to lack of habitat from deforestation it can cause the whole

ecosystem to collapse. This could bring about a mass extinction event if the deforesting is not

stopped. A statement to support this claim from Kuschnig et al is, “It plays an important role in

regional as well as global climate stabilization, is an unparalleled biodiversity hotspot, and is

essential to the livelihoods and health of people. Deforestation is a threat to the continued

provision of these services and thus a primary focus of environmental policy” (2). If we do not

have a biodiverse world, we will have warmer temperatures and higher amounts of disease.

Many plants and animals provide humans with something that they need. One major

thing that animals provide humans with is food. If we have a less biodiverse world and say, for

example, there is a disease that completely wipes out traditional farm animals, what will humans

eat? Another valuable reason that we need to protect Earth’s biodiversity is because of the many

plants that provide us with medicines and help prevent disease. These reasons, and others, all can

contribute to our planet heating up inducing climate change. A quote from Parsons et al that

supports this is, “Tropical deforestation remains an issue of global concern for global climate

change and biodiversity conservation. Additionally, tropical deforestation and forest cover

restoration can impact local climate via changes in rainfall and cloud cover, which could

exacerbate the impacts of local temperature changes. A growing body of work has highlighted
 Madewell 6

how deforestation is associated with local warming, particularly at low latitudes” (26). This all

loops back to how when the Earth is heated too much, all living processes go haywire. Humans

may think that they will be dead before they see the consequences of deforestation, but the Earth

is already experiencing this.

Urban sprawl, meaning humans moving to more urban settings, is a major cause of

deforestation. These migrations mean that the people leaving the city will need land, and they

will need food. When lots of people do this at the same time, or even in the same year, it can

cause short-term and long-term consequences. Figure 3 below, shows how the urban sprawl will

affect biodiversity levels which will then affect the climate.

 Madewell 7

Figure 3. This graph shows how urban sprawl could take out some biodiversity sinks in the next

10 years. (Bennett, Mongabay)

This graph shows that urban sprawl is becoming a greater problem each year. A lot of the

areas with the most expansion are in tropical biomes with the highest amount of species

diversity. This only adds to the fact that tropical regions are some of the most targeted

deforestation areas, when they are one of the most ecologically important places. A fact from

Bennett that goes along with this data is, “by 2030, nearly three percent of hotspot areas will be

urbanized, up from one percent in 2000. While the extent seems small, paving over marshes,

forests, and grasslands could generate 1.38 billion tons of carbon emissions (5 billion tons of

CO2) from direct land-use change” (19). This matters because people moving equals carbon

emissions. The people need jobs, and how do people get to those jobs? Cars. Cars emit carbon

and cause air pollution in highly populated areas, such as smog. Important ecological zones such

as marshes, forests, and grasslands will all be plowed over depleting the environment of plants.

Not to mention the amount of machinery it takes to start the process of plowing over these areas

and cutting down the trees. Fire will also need to be used to flatten out the land which naturally

releases carbon from the amount of biomass burned but will be used widespread causing a huge

carbon release. Although fire is part of the natural world, when used to human advantage it can

cause awful problems if not controlled.

Once the people inhabit the new developments or begin to raise animals such as cattle,

more and more carbon will be released. More and more plants will be cut down, and burned and

the cycle just continues over, and over again. Factories in some countries other than the United

States have fewer restrictions on the number of greenhouse gasses that are allowed to be

produced. Specifically in places such as East Asia. Products are produced in East Asia cheaper
 Madewell 8

than in other places because of the non-environmentally friendly practices of those countries.

There are fewer taxes and laws stating how much carbon or other pollutants can be released. If

more laws were indoctrinated in trade organizations on environmentally friendly practices, this

could be stopped indefinitely. This is one thing that needs to be changed if the people of Earth

want to have a promising future and not have to worry about climate change.

Another way that humans degrade the environment is by causing soil erosion. Soil

erosion occurs when there are no plants to hold in the sediment with their roots. This causes the

soil to not hold the precipitation and become arid. This is one of the first things that will happen

when all of the vegetation in an area is removed. This causes a large problem for farmers as well.

How will they be able to grow their crops if the soil is not healthy? They will have to either

invest in cover crops, or expensive irrigation systems paired with lots of fertilizer. Many of the

crops that the farmers will plant will not be able to hold the soil in any way. Plants such as

coffee, soy, and palms will not be able to have a large enough root system to keep the soil intact.

Once the farmers realize that their crops will not be able to utilize the land after a couple of

growing seasons the arid, dusty soil will be left and the farmers will move onto a new area of

fresh forest to deforest. This is a never-ending cycle until people are educated on better farming

practices and ways to avoid this issue.

An answer from the interview with Carlos Nobre shows that rainforests will soon become

savannas after all the deforestations. Nobre states that if deforestation is continued in the

Amazon, it will have an impact on all South America. There will eventually be a 15 to 20 percent

decrease in rainfall in that area of South America (Nobre). Carlos Nobre is a very reliable source

noting that he has been studying this topic of climate change and deforestation for 40 years. His

statements show that rainforests will become savannas once all of the deforestation factors are
 Madewell 9

combined. Savannas have substantially less amounts of biodiversity and less oxygen producing

flora. While savannas are still needed to keep the climate zones stable on Earth, too many create

carbon producing biomes. Eventually these savannas will be exploited into becoming farms

generating even more carbon. Urban sprawl is also a factor in this causing more savannas to be

exploited by corporations and governments for financial gain. This shows how all the issues

cycle back into each other and affect the rate of deforestation.

Although some say that there are larger more serious issues to climate change besides

deforestation, deforestation is the most preventable and greatest problem. Some believe that the

overuse of fossil fuels is the main cause of climate change, but it is not. To use fossil fuel, you

need land. And what has to be taken out for humans to use the land? Natural forests. To use

fossil fuels, people need to deforest land. Anything done on Earth requires space. Earth was

completely natural before humans evolved to the point where they could destroy and dominate

the globe. If humans do not take a step back and identify our correct role in protecting the planet

that has provided us with nourishment, love, and beauty, what is the point of existing? Humans

are the advocates of Earth. No other species has evolved enough to understand what is being

done to our world.

No person wants to live in a place where corn, wheat, and coffee are no longer viable

sources of sustenance. A lot of places rely on these crops for their main source of food. Humans

have not been able to grow on a large scale in the past couple of years. Other crop growth cycles

are dwindling. People come home from work to see their houses burned out from raging

wildfires. The air is constantly dusty. People step in for fresh air, no longer out. Air purifiers are

as common as refrigerators. This situation is one no person would want to be in. Deforestation

affects climate change in many ways such as urban sprawl adding to anthropogenic carbon
 Madewell 10

release, carbon dioxide being released from agricultural burning, and loss of biodiversity causing

broken ecosystems. Deforestation is the biggest cause of climate change and needs to be solved

efficiently and effectively.

 Works Cited

Bennett, Lauren. “Deforestation and Climate Change.” Climate Institute, 18 Apr. 2017,

http://climate.org/deforestation-and-climate-change/. Accessed 1 May 2022.

Fen, Montaigne et al. “Will Deforestation and Warming Push the Amazon to a

Tipping Point?” Yale E360, 4 Sept. 2019, https://e360.yale.edu/features/will-

deforestation-and-warming-push-the-amazon-to-a-tipping-point. Accessed 1 May 2022.

Kuschnig, Nikolas, et al. “Spatial Spillover Effects from Agriculture Drive Deforestation in

Mato Grosso, Brazil.” Scientific Reports, vol. 11, no. 1, Nov. 2021, pp. 1–9. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00861-y. Accessed 1 May 2022.

Medvigy, David, et al. “Simulated Changes in Northwest U.S. Climate in Response to Amazon

Deforestation*.” Journal of Climate, vol. 26, no. 22, Nov. 2013, pp. 9115–

36. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00775.1. Accessed 1 May 2022.

Parsons, Luke A., et al. “Tropical Deforestation Accelerates Local Warming and Loss of Safe

Outdoor Working Hours.” One Earth, vol. 4, no. 12, Dec. 2021, pp. 1730–

40. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.11.016. Accessed 1 May 2022.