Wildfires add to deforestation as well. This is inevitable as many fires are caused by lightning.. But in , there was a huge increase in the number of fires in the Amazon rainforest. In August of , over Three times the usual number. The main reasons are believed to be farmers and loggers clearing land for crops or grazing.
The main reasons for the loss of forests is production of timber, and making room for growing cattle, soy, and palm oil. Clearing forests for palm oil plantations is a growing problem. Palm oil is used to produce bio-fuels and cosmetics. It is possible to buy forest-friendly products, but it's not always easy to tell them apart from those that are not.
Look for products with their labels! Something really needs to change. The world population is growing by the minute and so is the global consumer class. Spread the message. Make a donation. Or update your wardrobe with clothes from our modest but growing selection of sustainably sourced and crafted clothes. By , the global demand for food could double. Using existing farmland more efficiently could feed more people without clearing additional forests and wetlands. Forests are vital for food, water and livelihoods — and they affect you, whether you know it or not.
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Blog USA. Protecting the nature we all rely on for food, fresh water and livelihoods. Americas Asia-Pacific Africa. Stay in touch. Thank you. In Malaysia and Indonesia, forests are cut down to make way for producing palm oil , which can be found in everything from shampoo to saltines. In the Amazon, cattle ranching and farms—particularly soy plantations—are key culprits. Loggers, some of them acting illegally , also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation.
Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl as land is developed for homes. Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees. Deforestation affects the people and animals where trees are cut, as well as the wider world. That disruption leads to more extreme temperature swings that can be harmful to plants and animals. Yet the effects of deforestation reach much farther.
The South American rainforest, for example, influences regional and perhaps even global water cycles, and it's key to the water supply in Brazilian cities and neighboring countries. The Amazon actually helps furnish water to some of the soy farmers and beef ranchers who are clearing the forest. In terms of climate change, cutting trees both adds carbon dioxide to the air and removes the ability to absorb existing carbon dioxide.
If tropical deforestation were a country, according to the World Resources Institute , it would rank third in carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, behind China and the U. The numbers are grim, but many conservationists see reasons for hope. A movement is under way to preserve existing forest ecosystems and restore lost tree cover.
Organizations and activists are working to fight illegal mining and logging—National Geographic Explorer Topher White, for example, has come up with a way to use recycled cell phones to monitor for chainsaws. In Tanzania, the residents of Kokota have planted more than 2 million trees on their small island over a decade, aiming to repair previous damage.
At the time it was said that an area of forest the size of a football pitch was cleared every single minute. But soon that calculation was overtaken, and this year has seen the largest fires for a decade. None of this should be a surprise: Jair Bolsonaro, was elected on a promise of development. Keen to promote mining as well as agriculture, he described the Amazon as "a periodic table" of valuable minerals, and he resents what he sees as outside interference.
But climate scientists say the billions of trees are a vast store of carbon and, without them, the rise in global temperatures will accelerate. Amazon fires doubled in October year on year. Deforested Amazon areas 'net emitters of CO2'. Brazil judge stymies plan to end mangrove protection. Deforestation link to Amazon soya and beef exports.
Brazil's Amazon sees surge in deforestation. We will 'fight to the death' to save the Amazon.
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