Tropical deforestation and its ecological consequences

Cultures and Languages of East Asian Countries program

I year student Viktorija Dudinska

Kaunas 2021
 Tropical deforestation and its ecological consequences

Deforestation is one of the main environmental problems today, which is caused by human
activity. The whole human history can be seen as a story of the destruction of forests. We keep living
like there is no tomorrow, cutting down the forests every day and destroying not only our main source
of oxygen, but also a habitat for so many animals, which drags along even more problems and has
serious ecological consequences.

Earth is suffering every day because of us, because of our actions. Most of the environmental
problems are occurring because of overconsumption of Earth’s resources and deforestation is no
different. The main causes of tropical deforestation, according to Rebecca Lindsey from Earth
observatory, NASA, are logging industry, agricultural expansion, infrastructure expansion, such as
urbanization, cattle ranches and wood harvest for domestic fuel or charcoal (Earth Observatory. NASA.
Rebecca Lindsey. 2007) and most specialists agree, which shows us that those, indeed, are the main
causes of deforestation. All of those things accelerated in Agricultural Epoch and since then it was
gradually expanding year after year. Development of civilization has decimated almost half of the
world’s forests (Global Forest Watch. 2021) and it can be noticed that the more developed the country
is the less forests it has left. Although deforestation meets some human needs, it also has profound,
sometimes devastating, consequences, including social conflict, extinction of plants and animals
(biodiversity loss), and climate change - challenges that aren't just local, but global (Earth Observatory.
NASA. Rebecca Lindsey. 2007). It can be seen that several sources agree on the fact that: the loss of
trees and other vegetation can cause climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding,
increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for indigenous people
(Pachamama Alliance. 2021) / By destroying the tropical forests, we risk our own quality of life,
gamble with the stability of climate and local weather, threaten the existence of other species, and
undermine the valuable services provided by biological diversity (Mongabay. Rhett A. Butler. 2019).
All the articles and overall sources I have found and read on this topic seem to highlight same causes of
tropical deforestation and consequences tend to differ a little bit with some resemblance, but one of the
consequences is mentioned in every source – climate change. Thus, it seems, all things considered,
most people agree on the topic of tropical deforestation, on all of the causes and consequences of it, as
well as on the fact that we have to slow down.

To sum up everything that has been stated, the main cause of tropical deforestation seems to be
the expansion of cattle pastures and the main as well as most serious consequence of deforestation is
climate change, while biodiversity loss comes in close second. Thus, the conclusion is that there has to
be serious actions done to reduce the consumption and destruction of wood, before it is too late or at
least to prevent more of ecological catastrophes. And it is clear who the culprit behind of all those
ecological crimes is.
 References
1. Earth Observatory. NASA. Rebecca Lindsey. 2007. Tropical deforestation. Available at:
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Deforestation
2. Global Forest Watch. 2021. Forest Monitoring Designed for Action. Available at:
https://www.globalforestwatch.org/
3. Mongabay. Rhett A. Butler. 2019. Consequences of Deforestation. Available at:
https://rainforests.mongabay.com/09-consequences-of-deforestation.html
4. Pachamama Alliance. 2021. Effects of Deforestation. Available at:
https://www.pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation