The Earth's environment is in great ecological turmoil due to mankind's ignorance towards the plight the forests. The overexploitation of forests at an alarming rate is spurred by humanity's need to accommodate its social, political and economic demands. Woodlands are continually being pulverized and shattered for logs, converted into agricultural pastures and plantations, urban areas and ultimately being transformed into barren lands. They are being stripped of their vegetation, sullied and severely degraded. Moreover, this clearing of trees, better known as the problem of deforestation, intensifies the greenhouse effect (which greatly contributes to global warming), significantly alt ...view middle of the document...
A number of various consequences or problems may arise if rampant deforestation is not put to a halt. Of these is the drastic change in the water cycle. When the water cycle is altered, it results into the dangerous event of sediment runoff or soil erosion which may sequentially lead the life-threatening occurrence of flash floods or perhaps landslides. The presence of trees is vital to the prevention of flash floods because when precipitation falls, they aid in the evaporation and absorption of excess water. Having lush greenery helps lessen the impact of falling rain and slows its raging flow. If there is no longer a massive system of tree roots to hold the soil in place and to provide air pockets through which water can seep into the ground, severe calamities such as flash floods and landslides may take place (Tesar 71). To prevent that, sustainable land management practices and reforestation should be implemented by both the local and national government.It is a known fact that trees assist in minimizing the amount of greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere. This is because trees and other forms of vegetation act as a major storage depot for carbon, an abundant greenhouse gas. They have the remarkable ability to trap carbon dioxide and utilize it during photosynthesis and in turn producing oxygen as a by-product for the human race to benefit from. Moreover, it is said that forests in the US annually absorb and store about 750 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, an amount equivalent to 10% of the country's carbon dioxide emissions (McKettrick). Though that may somewhat be a reason to celebrate, due to the current situation of global deforestation, whenever trees are cut or burnt, they release the carbon that has been stored within them their entire lifetime into the atmosphere, thus intensifying the greenhouse effect. In addition, without the lush green canopies of the forest, the carbon dioxide that would have been absorbed by the trees would remain in the atmosphere. All in all, the evil act of global deforestation accounts for one-third of the carbon dioxide emissions from all over the earth (Howden). For this reason, both the local and national government should implement sustainable land management practices and reforestation.It does not take an environmentalist to cringe at the horrifying sight of a land littered with stumps of trees that once were homes of such unique wildlife and biodiversity, yet forests are still wrecked and ruined. As defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), biodiversity is "the wealth of life on Earth, the millions of plants, animals, and micro-organisms, the genes they contain and the intricate ecosystems they build into the living environment." That be...
