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Engaging video explaining how deforestation changes our planet and its environments.
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Deforestation, clearance, clearcutting or clearing is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land which is then converted to a non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated deforestation occurs in tropical rainforests. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests. Between 15 - 18 million hectares of forest, an area the size of Belgium are destroyed every year, on average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations defines deforestation as the conversion of forest to other land uses (regardless of whether it is human-induced). “Deforestation” and “forest area net change” are not the same: the latter is the sum of all forest losses (deforestation) and all forest gains (forest expansion) in a given period. Net change, therefore, can be positive or negative, depending on whether gains exceed losses, or vice versa.
Agricultural expansion continues to be the main driver of deforestation and forest fragmentation and the associated loss of forest biodiversity.Large-scale commercial agriculture (primarily cattle ranching and cultivation of soya bean and oil palm) accounted for 40 percent of tropical deforestation between 2000 and 2010, and local subsistence agriculture for another 33 percent[7].Trees are cut down for use as building material, timber or sold as fuel (sometimes in the form of charcoal or timber), while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock and agricultural crops. The vast majority of agricultural activity resulting in deforestation is subsidized by government tax revenue.[8] Disregard of ascribed value, lax forest management, and deficient environmental laws are some of the factors that lead to large-scale deforestation. Deforestation in many countries—both naturally occurring[9] and human-induced—is an ongoing issue. Between 2000 and 2012, 2.3 million square kilometres (890,000 sq mi) of forests around the world were cut down. Deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates, which contributes significantly to the ongoing loss of biodiversity.
Climate change describes the ways in which the Earth’s climate changes slowly over time. In the past, the Earth’s climate has been colder and hotter than it is now. Scientists have discovered that human activities, mostly the burning of fuels, is causing the climate to get hotter much faster than normal.
This increase in temperature is causing ice in the Earth’s polar regions and glaciers to melt faster than normal causing the sea level to rise. These changes are affecting living things and people in many ways.
As the sea level rises, coastal areas around the Earth are at risk of flooding. Scientists have also discovered that hotter temperatures are causing more extreme weather. There are longer droughts and floods, stronger hurricanes and bigger wildfires. Many plants and animals may not be able to adapt to the changes caused by climate change. Those unable to adapt are at a greater risk of becoming extinct.
