Environmental Impacts of Deforestation

Environmental Impacts of Deforestation
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General purpose: To inform and teach readers about deforestation.
Specific purpose: To enlighten readers on the undesirable effects of deforestation.
Central Idea: Carbon cycle, hydro-cycle, and species diversity are some of the environmental aspects that are greatly impacted by deforestation.
Deforestation
Deforestation is cutting down trees for timber, for settlement, agriculture, and use as fuel. Deforestation is, therefore, a human activity that has great negative implications on the environment that include the disruption of the hydro cycle, disruption of the carbon cycle and also the reduction of species diversity (Bradford, 2018). This paper will, therefore, explore the environmental impacts of deforestation by focusing on the carbon cycle, hydro-cycle, and species diversity. Lumber has for an extended time been vital raw material for the making of apparatuses for various undertakings, materials for developing accommodations, fuel, and many other uses. It is a raw material with great demand. Overexploitation of forest resources is causing their depletion in the form of reduced forest cover, and this is an aspect with a lot of negative results. Forests are essential habitats to many plants and animals which get displaced as a result of defragmentation and complete destruction of their habitats. Deforestation is, therefore, a human activity that disrupts the biological and non-biological connections between the soil, air, and water causing great destructions to ecosystems.

Carbon Cycle
Trees perform as carbon sinks that stock carbon in an inactive form. Cutting down trees consequently releases great amounts of carbon into the air which is very significant in increasing greenhouse gases. Trees also play the part of decreasing carbon dioxide from the air through the procedure of photosynthesis. Trees naturally create food by taking up carbon dioxide from the air and manufacturing it into nutrients. This is a procedure that consumes a substantial quantity of carbon dioxide from the air. Cutting down trees, hence, disturbs the carbon cycle which is very imperative in keeping a good equilibrium of the quantity of carbon dioxide between the atmospheres and also in the soil. The disturbance of the carbon cycle can be recognized by amplified levels of carbon dioxide in the air which has a consequence of triggering more global warming. Carbon sequestration into the soil is also more efficient by older and naturally mature trees as paralleled to replanted trees. Consequently, the impairment done by the process by deforestation is usually long-lasting (Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet, 2017).
Hydro-Cycle
The hydro cycle is also another important phenomenon that involves the movement of water between the atmosphere, water bodies and in the soil. Tress ensure that adequate amount of water seeps into the soil through infiltration and becomes accessible to soil microbiology. Deforestation disrupts the cycle by reducing the process of infiltration and increases water runoff. This, therefore, limits the amount of water that enters the soil and this causes soil erosion by water and has great implications on soil ecosystems and water bodies such as rivers and lacks because of sedimentation. Trees also brush off water from passing air saturated with water vapor, and this is a process responsible for causing rainfall. Trees also influence the humidity of an area through transpiration. Trees, therefore, play a critical role in ensuring there is a beneficial balance of water vapor between the atmosphere, the land and water bodies and deforestation removes this balance and deprives plants, animals, and other organisms adequate water for survival (Mumoki, 2006).
Species Diversity
Deforestation also has an effect of reducing species diversity. It deprives different trees species off their native habitats. Deforestation can also lead to the extinction of some of the tree species. Deforestation is causing high rates of reduction in forest cover around the world, and this means that the diversity of tree species is also decreasing because of extinction. Deforestation is associated with clearing vast areas of land covered with trees. It causes defragmentation of ecosystems where they become too small to support life. Some plant species are usually endemic to the specific areas of land being cleared, and as a result, they easily go extinct. The high demand for timber is causing a great reduction in forest cover which means that many trees die. Diversity is very important especially for generic variation (Harvey, & Laville, 2018).
Conclusion
Deforestation is, therefore, an anthropogenic activity that has great implications for the environment. Soil erosion, an amplified quantity of greenhouse gases and lowered species diversity epitomize some of the environmental complications facing the world of today. They are instigated by the amplified demand for timber which is used as lumber and also as fuel. The need for space for settlement and agricultural activities results in fragmentations of forests that reduce the ability of forests ecosystems to support themselves and most trees ultimately die. There is a great need for acknowledging the problem of deforestation because the effects will soon be difficult to curb.

References
Bradford, A. (2018, April 03). Deforestation: Facts, Causes & Effects. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html
Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet. (2017, July 25). Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/
Harvey, F., & Laville, S. (2018, June 27). ‘There is no oak left’: Are Britain’s trees disappearing? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/27/are-englands-trees-disappearing
Mumoki, F. (2006). The Effects Of Deforestation On Our Environment Today – Panorama – TakingITGlobal. Retrieved from https://www.tigweb.org/youth-media/panorama/article.html?ContentID=7611