Problems Created By Deforestation

By: Lily Lee

You should have used wood at least once in life, whether it's paper, desk, pencil, chair, or floor, they are all made of wood. Wood can be useful for our lives, but if we use too much, problems would occur. Each year, approximately 190.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) is absorbed by trees, but if trees decrease each year, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) absorbed would also decrease because trees can’t absorb more carbon dioxide (CO₂) than their usual amount. This can lead to sudden death. Main effects that cutting trees can cause are habitat loss, soil erosion, and less absorption of carbon dioxide (CO₂).

Due to tree cutting in all areas in the world, lots of animals have lost their homes due to homes built for humans. Every year, about 50,000 living creatures lose their homes because of deforestation. These creatures include animals, plants, and insects. Additionally, every day, about 135 species of living creatures are lost(dead). This is bad because if a species goes extinct, a chain reaction might occur. For example, if a type of rabbit goes extinct due to deforestation, other rabbits would be hunted or targeted by larger predators, and soon the rabbits would become extinct because of a rapid decrease of that species'population. Further on, certain animals who eat or consume an extinct habitat will go extinct also because of their food resource shortage, and this would go on nonstop. Animals who went through habitat loss led to an increase in huge and rapid amounts of stress.

Even if someone thinks cutting trees only affects other animals, it also affects people because cutting trees is a huge result to soil erosion. First, what is soil erosion? Soil erosion means the wearing away of the topsoil layer by wind and water. For example, if there is a windy day, there are high chances that sand might get into your eyes. This shows that there was soil erosion because instead of soil staying on ground, they flew away. But how does deforestation lead to soil erosion? Deforestation causes soil erosion because if the trees are cutted, the roots of the trees would eventually die and get loosened, but the roots keep the soil together. The roots would eventually lead soil to loosen and not stick to each other again.

Earlier, it was said that over 190 billion tons of Carbon Dioxide(CO₂) is consumed each year, but if fewer trees are produced, less Carbon Dioxide would be consumed and less oxygen would be produced. This can lead to a big change because humans need around 19.5 percent of oxygen, but if less oxygen is produced, we would have less oxygen to breath, which causes straight away death. Adding on, Carbon Dioxide can cause climate change and cause the ozone layer to get destroyed because the Carbon Dioxide becomes stored into one place if there are no other ways to consume them without trees.

In conclusion, while wood is useful in everyday life, cutting down loads of trees causes serious environmental problems. Deforestation leads to habitat loss for animals, soil erosion, and an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, all of which harm all living organisms. If this continues, the damage to Earth may become permanent. Therefore, it is important to protect forests and use wood resources responsibly to ensure a healthier planet for future generations.

Work cited:

Natureandculture.org. Deforestation and Its Negative Impacts. 

https://www.natureandculture.org/deforestation/#:~:text=How%20does%20deforestation%20affect%20climate,%2C%20precipitation%2C%20and%20weather%20extremes.