Deforestation of Tropical Rain Forests
Tropical rainforests are wet forests that can be found in the equatorial regions of Central America, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America , and the Pacific Islands. They are also called lowland equatorial evergreen rainforests. Unfortunately, the tropical rainforests have become victims of deforestation, which has led to aridity, habitat destruction, and loss of biodiversity in many parts of the world.
Deforestation can be defined as the removal of trees on a large scale, usually by logging or burning of trees in forests. Human beings have been cutting down trees for centuries, selling off the wood to support the building of log cabins and other types of houses as well as the production of furniture and other items. After deforestation, the cleared lands are utilized for plantations, pastures, and the creation of human settlements. But now, the global community has woken up to the dangers of deforestation. People have realized the importance of reforestation, because most deforested lands will be reduced to wastelands within a short period of time.
There are several causes for deforestation. Cattle ranching, slash-and-burn farming, and over-heavy logging are some of the causes. Some of the other socio-political causes include urbanization, inequitable distribution of wealth, government corruption, overpopulation, and globalization.
The effects of deforestation are potentially devastating. Deforestation dramatically changes atmospheric, hydrological, soil, and ecological balance, which will eventually detriment the human population. Tropical rainforests help to absorb almost 20% of the world’s greenhouse emissions, and when they are deforested, greenhouse effect will increase. Greenhouse effect causes the global temperature to rise, which will make the environment less conducive for the survival of living things.
The carbon cycle also gets affected by the deforestation of rainforests. The carbon cycle involves the exchange of carbon among the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere of the Earth. Excessive deforestation disrupts this cycle because the burning of fossil fuels increases the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Furthermore, since trees of the rainforests absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the felling of trees creates an excess of carbon in the atmosphere, thereby throwing the carbon cycle into disarray.
Besides causing soil loss and crating disequilibrium in the water cycle, deforestation of tropical rainforests also leads to a decline in biodiversity. The tropical rainforests harbor about 80% of the world’s biodiversity. The exploitation of rainforests for hydroelectric developments or production of industrial fuels has led to the extinction of hundreds of invaluable species of plants and animals, resulting in a global biodiversity crisis. The good news is that the deforestation rates are expected to decrease in the near future, owing to a decrease in human population growth rates in the coming years.
Deforestation is a major concern for most countries of the world. It displaces indigenous people and changes climactic patterns, and that is why efforts are being made to revise the outdated environmental laws of most countries. The present rate of extinction of plant and animal species due to deforestation is almost 100 times faster than what it should be under normal circumstances. It is also estimated that the Amazon rainforests will be reduced by almost 50% in the next three decades if the current rate of deforestation continues. The United Nations believes this threatening scenario can only be averted by a concerted effort of all the nations of the world. The tropical rainforests are the world’s largest pharmacy, since most modern medicines originate from rainforests, and they are also considered the lungs of planet Earth; hence, it is the responsibility of all nations and human beings to preserve the rainforests.
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