Deforestation

By Sid Steinberg and Ben Heller

 What is Deforestation?
• The destruction of forests and trees

• Has many harmful effects on the environment

• Happening too quickly to recover

Causes of Deforestation

• Agriculture

• Logging

• Mining

• Dams

• Roads
 Agriculture
• Leading cause of deforestation
• Farmers need land to grow crops and raise animals
• They remove forest land to make room for farms
• They use slash and burn to perform deforestation
• Slash and burn is cutting away and burning the
forest
 Logging
• Loggers cut down trees for their wood
• Logging is illegal in many areas, like National Parks
• The wood is used for many purposes, including
paper production and as a building material
 Mining
• Miners search for materials like gold, copper, and
aluminum
• This clears the land, including the forest that
occupies it
• Contaminates the ecosystem with runoff
 Dams
• Generate hydroelectric energy
• Flood forests that are upstream
• Trees decay slowly when dams are built in tropical
waters, depriving the water of oxygen
 Roads
• Building the roads themselves destroys trees in the
way
• Provides access to a larger area of the forest for
loggers, miners, and farmers
 Effects of Deforestation

• Disrupts water cycle and carbon cycle

• Loss of biodiversity

• Soil Erosion

• Poor water quality

 Water Cycle
• If the trees are gone,
there will be less
transpiration and
less water released
into the hydrologic
cycle
 CO2 CO2 Carbon Cycle CO2 CO2

CO2
02

• If trees aren’t there, carbon dioxide will accumulate

and contribute to the greenhouse effect
 Loss of Biodiversity
• Rainforests contain over half of the world’s species
• Loss of trees -> loss of primary consumers -> loss of
secondary consumers -> …
• When trees are removed, all rainforest life is affected
 Soil Erosion
• Soil erosion is when soil is removed by natural causes
• When trees are gone, their roots cannot hold the soil
in place
• Reduces soil’s capacity to hold water
• Makes agriculture difficult
 Poor Water Quality
• Soil erosion lets dirt enter runoff, lowering water
quality
• Makes for bad living conditions for fish
• A reduced amount of fish can cause ramifications all
the way up the food chain
Examples of Deforested Areas

• The Amazon

• Africa

• Southeast Asia
 The Amazon
• World’s largest tropical rainforest
• Located in South America
• 1/5 of the world’s plants and 1/10 of animals are
found here
 Rainforests in Africa
• World’s second largest rainforest
• Almost all of the forest on Madagascar is gone
• Madagascar too contains a large amount of
biodiversity that has been compromised
 Rainforests in Southeast Asia
• Indonesia is covered in rainforest
• Has been deforested just like the Amazon and in
Africa
• It is hot and humid the whole year
Deforestation in Brunei
 How You Can Help

• Buying sustainably grown foods

• Buying environmentally friendly paper

• Donating to an organization that stands up for forests

 Sustainably Grown Food
• This is food that was grown without negative effects
like deforestation
• Only buying this type of food pressures businesses
into producing it, as they will produce what you buy
 Environmentally Friendly Paper
• This could be recycled paper or paper made from
bamboo
• Again, this pressures paper making companies into
using recycled paper and bamboo paper
 Donating to Organizations
• Organizations like Greenpeace fight damage to the
environment like deforestation
• Since they receive money, these organizations can
influence corporations and politicians to make
environmentally friendly policies
Thank you for
preserving our forests!