Deforestation Deforestation: Compromises of a Growing World With the world growing at a pace hard to match, the increasing need for space is turning out to be an area of concen, With desperate need for land for agricultural, industrial and most importantly urban needs to contain cities and their growing Population, a direct action that we have come to recognize as “Deforestation” occurs, Deforestation in simple term means the felling and clearing of forest cover or tree plantations in order to accommodate agricultural, industrial or urban use. It involves permanent end of forest cover to make that land available for residential, commercial or industrial purpose. Over the last century the forest cover around the globe has been greatly compromised, leaving the green cover down to an all time low of about 30 per cent, According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an estimated 18 million acres (7.3 million hectares) of forest are lost each year. Deforestation can also be seen as removal of forests leading to several imbalances ecologically and environmentally. What makes deforestation alarming is the immediate and long term effects it is bound to inflict if continued at the current pace. Some predictions state that the rainforests of the world will be destroyed completely if deforestation continues at its current pace. Deforestation or clearance occurs due to several reasons, to get an overview we could include the need of money, both in terms of profitability as well as providing for one’s family in most scenarios, along with lack of or no forest laws, need for land space for housing etc among a long list of other uses. Mainly blamed on agricultural or pastoral use, farmers fell trees for increasing space for cultivation and/or as fodder land for grazing and surviving live stock. The whole concept of ‘slash and bum’ agriculture, is used to indicate this same process where farmers employ the above chain of actions for their purposes. Causes of Deforestation 1, Agricultural Activities: As earlier mentioned in the overview, agricultural activities are one of the major factors affecting deforestation. Due to overgrowing demand for food products, huge amount of tress are fell down to grow crops and for cattle gazing. 2. Logging: Apart from this, wood based industries like paper, match-sticks, funiture ete also need a substantial amount of wood supply. Wood is used as fuel both directly and indirectly, therefore trees are chopped for supplies. Firewood and charcoal are examples of wood being used as fuel. Some of these industries thrive on illegal wood cutting and felling of trees. 3. Urbanization: Further on order to gain access to these forests, the construction of roads are undertaken; here again trees are chopped to create roads. Overpopulation too directly affects Scanned with CamScannerforest covers, as with the expansion of cities more land is needed to establish housing and settlements, Therefore forest land is reclaimed. 4. Desertification of land: Some of the other factors that lead to deforestation are also part natural and part anthropogenic like Desertification of land. It occurs due to land abuse maki unfit for growth of trees. Many industries in petrochemicals release their waste into rivers which results in soil erosion and make it unfit to grow plants and trees. 5. Mining: Oil and cosl mining require considerable amount of forest land. Apart from this, roads and highways have to be built to make way for trucks and other equipment. The waste that comes out from mining pollutes the environment and affects the nearby species. 6. Forest Fires: Another example would be forest blazes; Hundreds of trees are lost each year due to forest fires in various portions of the world. This happens due to extreme warm summers and milder winters. Fires, whether causes by man or nature results in huge loss of forest cover. Effects of Deforestation 1. Climate Imbalance: Deforestation also affects the climate in more than one ways. Trees release water vapor in the air, which is compromised on with the lack of trees. Trees also provide the required shade that keeps the soil moist. This leads to the imbalance in the atmospheric temperature further making conditions for the ecology difficult. Flora and fauna across the world are accustomed to their habitat. This haphazard clearance of forests have forced several of these animals to shift from their native environment. Due to this several species are finding it difficult to survive or adapt to new habitats. 2. Increase in Global Warming: Trees play a major role in controlling global warming, The trees utilize the green house gases, restoring the balance in the atmosphere. With constant deforestation the ratio of green house gases in the atmosphere has increased, adding to our global warming woes. 3. Soil Erosion: Also due to the shade of trees the soil remains moist. With the clearance of tree cover, the soil is directly exposed to the sun, making it dry. 4, Floods: When it rains, trees absorb and store large amount of water with the help of their roots. When they are cut down, the flow of water is disrupted and leads to floods in some areas and droughts in other. 5. Wildlife Extinction: Due to massive felling down of trees, various species of animals are lost. They lose their habitat and forced to move to new location. Some of them are even pushed to extinction, Our world has lost so many species of plants and animals in last couple of decades. Scanned with CamScannerEnvironmental effects Atmospheric Deforestation is ongoing and is shaping climate and geography. Deforestation is a contributor to global warming, and is often cited as one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect. Tropical deforestation is responsible for approximately 20% of world greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change deforestation, mainly in tropical areas, could account for up to one-third of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. But recent calculations suggest that carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (excluding peatland emissions) contribute about 12% of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions with a range from 6 to 17%. Deforestation causes carbon dioxide to linger in the atmosphere. As carbon dioxide accrues, it produces a layer in the atmosphere that traps radiation from the sun. The radiation converts to heat which causes global warming, which is better known as the greenhouse effect, Plants remove carbon in the form of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during the process of photosynthesis, but release some carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere during normal respiration. Only when actively growing can a tree or forest remove carbon, by storing it in plant tissues. Both the decay and burning of wood releases much of this stored carbon back to the atmosphere. Although an accumulation of wood is generally necessary for carbon sequestration, in some forests the network of symbiotic fungi that surround the trees’ roots can store a significant amount of carbon, storing it underground even if the tree which supplied it dies and decays, or is harvested and burned. Another way carbon can be sequestered by forests is for the wood to be harvested and tured into long-lived products, with new young trees replacing them. Deforestation may also cause carbon stores held in soil to be released, Forests can be either sinks or sources depending upon environmental circumstances. Mature forests alternate between being net sinks and net sources of carbon dioxide (see carbon dioxide sink and carbon cycle). In deforested areas, the land heats up faster and reaches a higher temperature, leading to localized upward motions that enhance the formation of clouds and ultimately produce more rainfall. However, according to the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, the models used to investigate remote responses to tropical deforestation showed a broad but mild temperature increase all through the tropical atmosphere. The model predicted <0.2 °C warming for upper air at 700 mb and 500 mb. However, the model shows no significant changes in other areas besides the Tropics. Though the model showed no significant changes to the climate in areas other than the Tropics, this may not be the case since the model has possible errors and the results are never absolutely definite. Deforestation affects wind flows, water vapour flows and absorption of solar energy thus clearly influencing local and global climate, Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in developing countries has emerged as a new potential to complement ongoing climate policies. The idea consists in providing financial compensations for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation". Scanned with CamScannerbelieved by laymen to contribute a significant amount of the world's accepted by scientists that rainforests contribute little net oxygen to i a minor effect on atmospheric oxygen level: the atmosphere and deforestation has only a minor ygen levels, However, the incineration and burning of forest plants to clear land releases large amounts of COz, which contributes to global warming. Scientists also state that tropical deforestation releases 1.5 billion tons of carbon each year into the atmosphere. Rainforests are widely oxygen, although it is now Hydrological The water cycle is also affected by deforestation. Trees extract groundwater through their roots and release it into the atmosphere. When part of a forest is removed, the trees no longer transpire this water, resulting in a much drier climate, Deforestation reduces the content of water in the soil and groundwater as well as atmospheric moisture, The dry soil leads to lower water intake for the trees to extract, Deforestation reduces soil cohesion, so that erosion, flooding and landslides ensue. Shrinking forest cover lessens the landscape's capacity to intercept, retain and transpire precipitation. Instead of trapping precipitation, which then percolates to groundwater systems, deforested areas become sources of surface water runoff, which moves much faster than subsurface flows. Forests return most of the water that falls as precipitation to the atmosphere by transpiration. In contrast, when an area is deforested, almost all precipitation is lost as run-off. That quicker transport of surface water can translate into flash flooding and more localized floods than would occur with the forest cover. Deforestation also contributes to decreased evapotranspiration, which lessens atmospheric moisture which in some cases affects precipitation levels downwind from the deforested area, as water is not recycled to downwind forests, but is lost in runoff and returns directly to the oceans. According to one study, in deforested north and northwest China, the average annual precipitation decreased by one third between the 1950s and the 1980s. Trees, and plants in general, affect the water cycle significantly: « their canopies intercept a proportion of precipitation, which is then evaporated back to the atmosphere (canopy interception); their litter, stems and trunks slow down surface runoff; « their roots create macropores — large conduits — in the soil that increase infiltration of water; they contribute to terrestrial evaporation and reduce soil moisture via transpiration; © their litter and other organic residue change soil properties that affect the capacity of soil to store water. «their leaves control the humidity of the atmosphere by transpiring. 99% of the water absorbed by the roots moves up to the leaves and is transpired. As a result, the presence or absence of trees can change the quantity of water on the surface, in the soil or groundwater, or in the atmosphere. This in turn changes erosion rates and the availability of water for either ecosystem functions or human services. Deforestation on lowland plains moves cloud formation and rainfall to higher elevations. Scanned with CamScannerThe forest may have little impact on flooding in the case of large rainf i PF F fall i overwhelm the storage capacity of forest soil ifthe soils are at or close to saturation > WiCh Tropical rainforests produce about 30% of our planet's fresh water, Deforestation disrupts normal weather patterns creating hotter and drier we: i y .. + +. mathe i1 drought, desertification, crop failures, melting of the polar ice caps, comal ener displacement of major vegetation regimes. ig and Soil Due to surface plant litter, forests that are undisturbed have a minim: i erosion occurs from deforestation, because it decreases the cae oh provides protection from surface runoff. The rate of erosion is around 2 metic ton, pet square EGlometre. This can be an advantage in excessively leached tropical rain forest wl, Forney operations themselves also inerease erosion through the development of (rest) eacis cnc, use of mechanized equipment. Deforestation in China's Loess Plateau many years ago has led to soil erosion; this erosion has led to valleys opening up. The increase of soil in the runoff causes the Yellow River to flood and makes it yellow colored. Greater erosion is not always a consequence of deforestation, as observed in the southwestem regions of the US. In these areas, the loss of grass due to the presence of trees and other shrubbery leads to more erosion than when trees are removed. Soils are reinforced by the presence of trees, which secure the soil by binding their roots to soil bedrock. Due to deforestation, the removal of trees causes sloped lands to be more susceptible to landslides. Biodiversity Deforestation on a human scale results in decline in biodiversity, and on a natural global scale is known to cause the extinction of many species. The removal or destruction of areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reduced biodiversity.?" Forests support biodiversity, providing habitat for wildlife; moreover, forests foster medicinal conservation. With forest biotopes being irreplaceable source of new drugs (such as taxol), deforestation can destroy genetic variations (such as crop resistance) irretrievably. Since the tropical rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems on Earth and about 80% of the world's known biodiversity could be found in tropical rainforests, removal or destruction of significant areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reduced biodiversity. A study in Rondénia, Brazil, has shown that deforestation also removes the microbial community which is involved in the recycling of nutrients, the production of clean water and the removal of pollutants. Scanned with CamScannerScientific understanding of the process of extinction is insufficient to predictions sbout the impact of deforestation on biodiversity. Most predictions of feng rene biodiversity loss are based on species-area models, with an undetying assumption tert forest declines species diversity will decline similarly, However, many such models yee proven to be wrong and loss of habitat does not necessarily lend to large scale Ines one ee Species-area models are known to overprediet the numberof species krovm to be these areas where actual deforestation is ongoing, and greatly overpredict the number or gene species that are widespread. ne Solutions to Deforestation 1. The best solution to deforestation is to curb the felling of trees, by employing a series of rules and laws to govern it. Deforestation in the current scenario may have reduced however it would be too early to assume. The money-chumer that forest resources can be, is tempting enough for deforestation to continue. ’ 2. Clear cutting of forests must be banned. This will curb total depletion of the forest cover. It is a practical solution and is very feasible. 3. Land skinned of its tree cover for urban settlements should be urged to plant trees in the vicinity and replace the cut trees. Also the cutting must be replaced by planting young trees to replace the older ones that were cut, Trees are being planted under several initiatives every year, but they still don’t match the numbers of the ones we've already lost. Control Reducing emissions Main international organizations including the United Nations and the World Bank, have begun to develop programs aimed at curbing deforestation. The blanket term Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) describes these sorts of programs, which use direct monetary or other incentives to encourage developing countries to limit and/or roll back deforestation. Funding has been an issue, but at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties-15 (COP-15) in Copenhagen in December 2009, an accord was reached with a collective commitment by developed countries for new and additional resources, including forestry and investments through international institutions, that will approach USD 30 billion for the period 2010-2012. Significant work is underway on tools for use in monitoring developing country adherence to their agreed REDD targets. These tools, which rely on remote forest monitoring using satellite imagery and other data sources, include the Center for Global Development's FORMA (Forest Monitoring for Action) initiative and the Group on Earth Observations’ Forest Carbon Tracking Portal. Methodological guidance for forest monitoring was also emphasized at COP-15. The environmental organization Avoided Deforestation Partners leads the campaign for development of REDD through funding from the U.S. government. In 2014, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and partners launched Open Foris — a set of open-source software tools that assist countries in gathering, producing and disseminating information on the state of forest resources. The tools Scanned with CamScannersupport the inventory lifecyele, from needs assessment, design, planning, field data collection and management, estimation analysis, and dissemination. Remote sensing image processing tools are included, as Well as tools for international reporting for Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) and MRV (Measurement, Reporting and Verification) and FAO's Global Forest Resource Assessments, In evaluating implications of overall emissions reductions, countries of greatest concern are those categorized as High Forest Cover with High Rates of Deforestation (HFHD) and Low Forest Cover with High Rates of Deforestation (LFHD). Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Burma, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mongolia, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zimbabwe are listed as having Low Forest Cover with High Rates of Deforestation (LFHD). Brazil, Cambodia, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Malaysia, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Venezuela, Zambia are listed as High Forest Cover with High Rates of Deforestation (HFHD). Land rights Transferring rights over land from public domain to its indigenous inhabitants is argued to be a cost effective strategy to conserve forests. This includes the protection of such rights entitled in existing laws, such as India’s Forest Rights Act. The transferring of such rights in China, perhaps the largest land reform in modem times, has been argued to have increased forest cover. In Brazil, forested areas given tenure to indigenous groups have even lower rates of clearing than national parks. Farming New methods are being developed to farm more intensively, such as high-yield hybrid crops, greenhouse, autonomous building gardens, and hydroponics. These methods are often dependent ‘on chemical inputs to maintain necessary yields. In cyclic agriculture, cattle are grazed on farm and that is resting and rejuvenating, Cyclic agriculture actually increases the fertility of the soil. Intensive farming can also decrease soil nutrients by consuming at an accelerated rate the trace minerals needed for crop growth. The most promising approach, however, is the concept of food forests in permaculture, which consists of agroforestal systems carefully designed to mimic natural forests, with an emphasis on plant and animal species of interest for food, timber and other uses. These systems have low dependence on fossil fuels and agro-chemicals, are highly self-maintaining, highly productive, and with strong positive impact on soil and water quality, and biodiversity, Monitoring deforestation There are multiple methods that are appropriate and reliable for reducing and monitoring deforestation. One method is the “visual interpretation of aerial photos or satellite imagery that is labor-intensive but does not require high-level training in computer image processing or extensive computational resources”. Another method includes hot-spot analysis (that is, locations Scanned with CamScannerof rapid change) using expert opinion or coarse resolution satellite data to identify locations for detailed digital analysis with high resolution satellite images. Deforestation is typically assessed by quantifying the amount of area deforested, measured at the present time, From an environmental point of view, quantifying the damage and its possible consequences is amore important task, while conservation efforts are more focused on forested land protection and development of land-use alternatives to avoid continued deforestation. Deforestation rate and {otal area deforested, have been widely used for monitoring deforestation in many regions, including the Brazilian Amazon deforestation monitoring by INPE. A global satellite view is available. Forest management Efforts to stop or slow deforestation have been attempted for many centuries because it has long been known that deforestation can cause environmental damage sufficient in some cases to cause societies to collapse. In Tonga, paramount rulers developed policies designed to prevent conflicts between short-term gains from converting forest to farmland and long-term problems forest loss would cause,!'® while during the 17th and 18th centuries in Tokugawa, Japan,!'7 the shoguns developed a highly sophisticated system of long-term planning to stop and even reverse deforestation of the preceding centuries through substituting timber by other products and more efficient use of land that had been farmed for many centuries, In 16th-century Germany, landowners also developed silviculture to deal with the problem of deforestation. However, these policies tend to be limited to environments with good rainfall, no dry season and very young soils (through volcanism or glaciation). This is because on older and less fertile soils trees grow too slowly for silviculture to be economic, whilst in areas with a strong dry season there is always a risk of forest fires destroying a tree crop before it matures, In the areas where "slash-and-burn" is practiced, switching to "slash-and-char" would prevent the rapid deforestation and subsequent degradation of soils. The biochar thus created, given back to the soil, is not only a durable carbon sequestration method, but it also is an extremely beneficial amendment to the soil. Mixed with biomass it brings the creation of terra preta, one of the richest soils on the planet and the only one known to regenerate itself. Sustainable practices Certification, as provided by global certification systems such as Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification and Forest Stewardship Council, contributes to tackling deforestation by creating market demand for timber from sustainably managed forests. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), "A major condition for the adoption of sustainable forest management is a demand for products that are produced sustainably and consumer willingness to pay for the higher costs entailed. Certification represents a shift from regulatory approaches to market incentives to promote sustainable forest management. By promoting the positive attributes of forest products from sustainably managed forests, certification focuses on the demand side of environmental conservation." Rainforest Rescue argues that the standards of organizations like FSC are too closely connected to timber industry interests and therefore do not guarantee environmentally and socially responsible forest Scanned with CamScannermanagement. In reality, monitoring systems are inadequate and various cases of fraud have been documented worldwide. Some nations have taken steps to help increase the number of trees on Earth, In 1981, China created National Tree Planting Day Forest and forest coverage had now reached 16.55% of China's land mass, as against only 12% two decades ago. Using fuel from bamboo rather than wood results in cleaner burning, and since bamboo matures much faster than wood, deforestation is reduced as supply can be replenished faster, Reforestation In many parts of the world, especially in East Asian countries, reforestation and afforestation are increasing the area of forested lands. The amount of woodland has increased in 22 of the world’s 50 most forested nations. Asia as a whole gained 1 million hectares of forest between 2000 and 2005. Tropical forest in El Salvador expanded more than 20% between 1992 and 2001. Based on these trends, one study projects that global forest will increase by 10%—an area the size of India—by 2050. In the People's Republic of China, where large scale destruction of forests has occurred, the government has in the past required that every able-bodied citizen between the ages of 11 and 60 plant three to five trees per year or do the equivalent amount of work in other forest services, The government claims that at least | billion trees have been planted in China every year since 1982. This is no longer required today, but 12 March of every year in China is the Planting Holiday. Also, it has introduced the Green Wall of China project, which aims to halt the expansion of the Gobi desert through the planting of trees. However, due to the large percentage of trees dying off after planting (up to 75%), the project is not very successful. There has been a 47-million-hectare increase in forest area in China since the 1970s. The total number of trees amounted to be about 35 billion and 4,55% of China's land mass increased in forest coverage. The forest coverage was 12% two decades ago and now is 16.55%. ‘An ambitious proposal for China is the Acrially Delivered Re-forestation and Erosion Control System and the proposed Sahara Forest Project coupled with the Seawater Greenhouse. In Western countries, increasing consumer demand for wood products that have been produced and harvested in a sustainable manner is causing forest landowners and forest industries to become increasingly accountable for their forest management and timber harvesting practices. The Arbor Day Foundation’s Rain Forest Rescue program is a charity that helps to prevent deforestation. The charity uses donated money to buy up and preserve rainforest land before the lumber companies can buy it. The Arbor Day Foundation then protects the land from deforestation. This also locks in the way of life of the primitive tribes living on the forest land. Organizations such as Community Forestry Intemational, Cool Earth, The Nature Conservancy, World Wide Fund for Nature, Conservation International, African Conservation Foundation and Greenpeace also focus on preserving forest habitats. Greenpeace in particular has also mapped out the forests that are still intactand published this information on the internet. World Resources Scanned with CamScannerInstitute in tum has made a simpler thematic map showing the amount of forests present just before the age of man (8000 years ago) and the current (reduced) levels of forest. These maps mark the amount of afforestation required to repair the damage caused by people, Forest plantations In order to acquire the world’s demand for wood, it is suggested that high yielding forest plantations are suitable according to forest writers Botkins and Sedjo. Plantations that yield 10 cubic meters per hectare a year would supply enough wood for trading of 5% of the world’s existing forestland. By contrast, natural forests produce about 1-2 cubic meters per hectare: therefore, 5-10 times more forestland would be required to meet demand. Forester Chad Oliver has suggested a forest mosaic with high-yield forest lands interspersed with conservation land. Globally, planted forests increased from 4.1% to 7.0% of the total forest area between 1990 and 2015. Plantation forests made up 280 million ha in 2015, an increase of about 40 million ha in the last ten years. Globally, planted forests consist of about 18% exotic or introduced species while the rest are species native to the country where they are planted. In South America, Oceania, and East and Southem Africa, planted forests are dominated by introduced species: 88%, 75% and 65%, respectively. In North America, West and Central Asia, and Europe the proportions of introduced species in plantations are much lower at 1%, 3% and 8% of the total area planted, respectively. In the country of Senegal, on the western coast of Africa, a movement headed by youths has helped to plant over 6 million mangrove trees. The trees will protect local villages from storm damages and will provide a habitat for local wildlife. The project started in 2008, and already the Senegalese government has been asked to establish rules and regulations that would protect the new mangrove forests. Land Degradation Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. Natural hazards are excluded as a cause; however human activities can indirectly affect phenomena such as floods and bush fires. This is considered to be an important topic of the 21st century due to the implications land degradation has upon agronomic productivity, the environment, and its effects on food security. It is estimated that up to 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. Scanned with CamScannerDifferent types In addition to the usual types of land degradation that have been known for centuries (water, wind and mechanical erosion, physical, chemical and biological degradation), four other types have emerged in the last 50 years: industrial, mining or commercial activities; + pollution, often chemical, due to agricultural, i conversion, agricultural + loss of arable land due to urban construction, road building, land expansion, etc.; + artificial radioactivity, sometimes accidental; + land-use constraints associated with armed conflicts. .¢ assessed. All are induced or aggravated tion, salinization, urbanization, etc. Overall, more than 36 types of land degradation can b by human activities, e.g. sheet erosion, silting, aridificat Causes Land degradation is a global problem largely related to agricultural use, Causes include: Land clearance, such as clearcutting and deforestation Agricultural depletion of soil nutrients through poor farming practices Livestock including overgrazing and overdrafting Inappropriate irrigation" and overdrafting ‘Urban sprawl and commercial development Vehicle off-roading Quarrying of stone, sand, ore and minerals Increase in field size due to economies of scale, hedgerows and copses disappear Exposure of naked soil after harvesting by heavy equipment Monoculture, destabilizing the local ecosystem Dumping of non-biodegradable trash, such as plastics Invasive Species Soil degradation, e.g. © Soil contamination ©. Soil erosion © Soil acidification Loss of soil carbon reducing shelter for wildlife, as Effects Overcutting of vegetation occurs when people cut forests, woodlands and shrublands—to obtain timber, fuelwood and other products—at a pace exceeding the rate of natural regrowth. This is frequent in semi-arid environments, where fuelwood shortages are often severe. Overgrazing is the grazing of natural pastures at stocking intensities above the livestock carrying capacity; the resulting decrease in the vegetation cover is a leading cause of wind and water Scanned with CamScannererosion, It is a significant factor in Afghanistan. The growing population uri - fi . pressure, during 1980. 1990, has led to decreases in the already small areas of agricultural land per person in six out of eight countries (14% for India and 21% for Pakistan). Population pressure also operates through other mechanisms. Improper agricultural practices, for instance, occur only under constraints such as the saturation of good lands under population pressure which leads settlers to cultivate too shallow or too steep soils, plough fallow land before it has recovered its fertility, or attempt to obtain multiple crops by irrigating unsuitable soils. High population density is not always related to land degradation. Rather, it is the practices of the human population that can cause a landscape to become degraded. Populations can be a benefit to the land and make it more productive than it is in its natural state. Land degradation is an important factor of intemal displacement in many African and Asian countries. Severe land degradation affects a significant portion of the Earth's arable lands, decreasing the wealth and economic development of nations. As the land resource base becomes less productive, food security is compromised and competition for dwindling resources increases, the seeds of famine and potential conflict are sown. Sensitivity and resilience Sensitivity and resilience are measures of the vulnerability of a landscape to degradation. These two factors combine to explain the degree of vulnerability. Sensitivity is the degree to which a and system undergoes change due to natural forces, human intervention or a combination of both. Resilience is the ability of a landscape to absorb change, without significantly altering the relationship between the relative importance and numbers of individuals and species that compose the community. It also refers to the ability of the region to retum to its original state after being changed in some way. The resilience of a landscape can be increased or decreased through human interaction based upon different methods of land-use management. Land that is degraded becomes less resilient than undegraded land, which can lead to even further degradation through shocks to the landscape. Causes of land degradation + Population: The indirect activities included pressure on agricultural intensification and population growth. About 220 million hectares of tropical forest have been degraded 1975 and 1990 mainly for food production, With the increase in population, more land is needed for producing food, fibre, and fuel wood leading to increasing pressure on the limited land resources. Therefore the land gets degraded due to over exploitation. « Human Activities: Human induced causes many human activities are leads to land degradation directly or indirectly include deforestation, overgrazing by livestock, wrong irrigation practices, urban sprawl and commercial development, pollution from industries, quarrying, and mining activities, Problems arising from planning and management of canal irrigation etc. * Urbanization: Increased urbanization due to population growth reduces the agricultural land, To compensate for loss of agricultural land, new lands comprising of natural ecosystems such as Scanned with CamScannerforests are cleared. Therefore, urbanizati fn which atc ‘on leads to deforestation which in-tum affects millions * Fertilizers and Pesticides: Increased application of fertilize it + rs and pestici increase farm output in new lands thereby leading to pollu, cae degradation ion of land, water and soil + Damage to top soil: Increase in food produ ti i muientnepleten Production generally leads to damage of top soil through Some specific causes are: 4) Soil erosion: + 1tis wearing away of the land surface by physical forces such as rainfall, flowing water, wind, ice, temperature change, gravity or other natural or anthropogenic agents, 4) Soil contamination: * It includes contamination by heavy metals, acidification, nutrient surplus (eutrophication), etc. ©) Soil salinisation: * The salts which accumulate include chlorides, sulphates, carbonates and bicarbonates of sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. 4) Soil seating: * The covering of the soil surface with impervious materials as a result of urban development and infrastructure construction. ©) Overgrazing: * Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. fp Acidification of Soil: + Acid soils are toxic to plants because they can release toxic levels of aluminium and other mineral elements. 8) Mining and quarrying activities: * Due to this excavation process alter the structure of the land, stacking of top soil, loss of soil due to dumping of the mine wastes. 1) Improper crop rotations: Scanned with CamScanner+ It decreases fertility of soil. Impact of land degradation + Loss of soil organic matter and nutrients. + Loss of soil structure, + Loss of soil biodiversity. + Loss of water holding capacity and water infiltration. * Soil pollution. + Reduced yields of crops. * Reduced Jand value and resilience to future events. * Impact on food security. + Reduces ability to adapt to climate change. Sustainable Land Management Thus Sustainable Land Management (SLM) is crucial to minimizing land degradation, rehabilitating degraded areas and ensuring the optimal use of land resources for the benefit of present and future generations. SLM is based on four common principles: + land-user-driven and participatory approaches; + Integrated use of natural resources at ecosystem and farming systems levels + Multilevel and multi-stakeholder involvement; and + Targeted policy and institutional support, including development of incentive mechanisms for SLM adoption and income generation at the local level. ‘Some of the methods for sustainable management of land are: ent practices like water development, placement of salt and supplements, fertilizer application, fencing, buming can control the overgrazing, * Managing irrigation: Irrigation system can be controlled like drip irrigation to reduce soil erosion. Using high and low salt water was most effective in maintaining the productive capacity of the clay soil. * Managing urban sprawl: The urban planning is the most important factor, to control the urban sprawl. Fertile field near by the urbane area need to be protected by the local government hles. There should be a proper waste management system dumping of these waste generated as part of urban sprawling will degrade the land, can cause soil salinity, acidity and loss of it vegetative properties. + Managing mining and quarrying: The impact can be reduced by proper management of mining process, using advanced technologies rather than conventional methods. After mining by proper back filling, spreading the soil back over the top, the land can be reclaimed. * Managing agricultural intensification: Agricultural intensification need to be managed properly to reduce the ‘environmental effect. This can be done through education of the farmers. + Management on overgrazing: Managem: Scanned with CamScannerPeople who produce the least emissions wi ihemiy often 7S will be the ones to suffer the most, That's always been It's down to us as individ n y do what we can to reduce our own carbon emission Y 8, Sao the eae of others until collectively our shouts are such a mighty voice that no poli aa an igre it. Beter they hear the shouts of protest now than the screams of agony m wa ral resources or the wailing of starvation i i es 8 of starvation in the future .. and it may well be '€s amongst the anguish; that's how little time we have left. Acid Rain uals to not onl What Is Acid Rain? Acid rain is made up of water droplets that are unusually acidic because of atmospheric Pollution, most notably the excessive amounts of sulfur and nitrogen relessed by cars and industrial processes. Acid 1 rain is also called acid deposition because this term includes other forms of acidic precipitation such as snow. Acidic deposition occurs in two ways: wet and dry. Wet deposition is any form of precipitation thi TTeano¥s acids from the atmosphere and deposits them on the Earth’s surface. Dry deposition Polluting particles and gases stick to the ground via dust and smoke in the abeonee ot Precipitation, This form of deposition is dangerous, however, because precipitation can eventually wash pollutants into streams, Jakes, and rivers, Acidity itself is determined based on the pH level of the water droplets, PH is the scale ‘measuring the amount of acid in the water and liquid, The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 with « lower pH being more acidic while a high pH is alkaline; seven is neutral. Normal rain water ig slightly acidic and has a pH range of 5.3-6.0. Acid deposition is anything below that range. It is also important to note that the pH scale is logarithmic and each whole number on the scale represents a 10-fold change. Today, acid deposition is present in the northeastem United States, southeastem Canada, and much of Europe including portions of Sweden, Norway, and Germany. In addition, parts of South Asia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Southem India are all in danger of being impacted by acid deposition in the future, Causes and History of Acid Rain Acid deposition can be causes by natural sources like volcanoes, but it is mainly caused by the release of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide during fossil fuel combustion, When these gases are discharged into the atmosphere, they react with the water, oxygen, and other gases already present there to form sulfuric acid, ammonium nitrate, and nitric acid. These acids then disperse Scanned with CamScanner