Deforestation Presented By Team Genius Ariana Woodson, Heng Zhang, Martina Gualtieri, Sandra Flores, Sergio Alvarez, and Alex Bricout.

Deforestation

Presented By Team Genius

Ariana Woodson, Heng Zhang, Martina Gualtieri, Sandra Flores, Sergio Alvarez, and Alex Bricout

What Is It?

• Deforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by logging & burning.

• occurs for many reasons: – fuel or as a commodity, – while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock,– plantations of commodities, and settlements.

• In many countries, deforestation is an ongoing issue that is causing extinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of indigenous people.

• Among countries with a per capita GDP of at least US$4,600, net deforestation rates have ceased to increase.

Why This Problem?

• Natural resources are under increasing pressure, as Terracivians try to balance economic production, resource conservation, and sustainable development

• The dense forests of Terracivis have made it a significant exporter of timber

• provide habitat for 1,600 species of birds, including 120 endemic species, a number of which are critically endangered

• Industries: logging, mining and refining minerals, coal extraction, textiles, fishing, ecotourism

IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS

• Multiple benefits to environment, people and animals.

-Cool air temperature.-Generation of oxygen.

-Sound barrier and reduce light reflection.-Supply higher quality water with less impurity.

Control water level in floods.

-Minimization of noise pollution.

-Advances in medicine thanks to different herbs and plants.

-Place for education and research.

Causes of Deforestation• corruption of government institutions• the inequitable distribution of wealth and power• population growth and overpopulation• urbanization • Globalization is often viewed as another root cause of deforestation

– cases in which the impacts of globalization have promoted localized forest recovery.

• In 2000 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that "the role of population dynamics in a local setting may vary from decisive to negligible," and that deforestation can result from "a combination of population pressure and stagnating economic, social and technological conditions."

Eviromental Problems• 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.

• Hydrological– Trees extract groundwater through their roots & release into

atmosphere– When part of forest is removed trees don’t evaporate away this water

and climate becomes dry– Deforestation reduces content of water in soil & groundwater as well

as atmospheric moisture

Cont.• Deforestation reduces soil cohesion

– erosion, flooding & landslides ensue• Forests enhance the recharge of aquifers in some locales,

– forests are a major source of aquifer depletion on most locales. • Soil• Undisturbed forests have very low rate of soil loss,

– Approx. 2 metric tons per square kilometer (6 short tons per square mile). • generally increases rates of soil erosion

– increasing amount of runoff & reducing protection of soil from tree litter – This can be an advantage in excessively leached tropical rain forest soils

• Forestry operations themselves also increase erosion through the development of roads and use of mechanized equipment

Economic Impact

• Damage to forests & other aspects of nature could halve living standards for world's poor & reduce global GDP by about 7% by 2050,– a major report concluded at the Convention on

Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting in Bonn. • Historically utilization of forest products played

key role in human societies • Today, developed countries continue to utilize

timber for building houses, and wood pulp for paper

COUNTRIES WITH DEFORESTATION

• NIGERIA.-Worst deforestation rate.

-CONSEQUENCES: loss of natural systems, extinction of animal species, soil loss and decrease in the number of trees.

• BRAZIL.-deforestation caused by constant logging (legal or illegal),

cattle ranching, etc.

-decrease in the availability of renewable resources (fruits, vegetables…)

-destruction of local cultures

• CONGO.-causes are building infrastructure, local subsistence activities

(mainly agriculture), in addition to commercial logging and mining.

-loss of ecosystems, decrease in biodiversity, soil loss and erosion, resources loss…

Congo Brazil

Nigeria

Causes of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, 2000-2005

Tropical deforestation rates from 2000-2005

Solutions

• Protect through organizations– Greenpeace– Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species (CITES)

• Sustainable logging– Balance demands and preservation– Plant 10 for every 1– Reduce emissions

Solutions Cont.

• Controlled farming– Manage compaction through confining to

narrow strips

• Reforestation– Restock existing forest areas– Peace Corps can get volunteers to replant– Companies involved in reforestation

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<http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0801.htm>.

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• Kirby, Alex. "Britons urge tighter meat imports." BBC News (2004): 1. Web. 30 Jul 2010. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3527241.stm>.

Deforestation Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioTEOOTlEi4

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioTEOOTlEi4