Pros And Cons Of Deforestation

It is said, that forests cover 31% of the land area on our planet (WWF). Reducing the number of trees and the surface area of a forest is called deforestation. Deforestation is one of the biggest problems in today’s economic system. There may be a lot of positives behind the idea of cutting down trees; however they are all outnumbered by the negatives. If one is not careful with the removal of a forest, it may lead to more deserted areas.
First of all, deforestation is one of the reasons for the loss of habitat for millions of species around the world. According to National Geographic, around 70 percent of the world’s animal inhabitants and plants live in forests, but unfortunately many of them lose their lives and homes due to deforestation (National Geographic). Forests do not only provide shelter for animal species, moreover they regulate the temperature. If a forest is cut, the changes in the temperature could lead
Deforestation is the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after coal and oil (WWF). It actually leads to more air pollution, in terms of carbon dioxide, than all the cars and trucks in the world (Scheer, Moss, 2012). Around 14 percent of the carbon emissions come from automobiles and trucks, while above 15 percent come from deforestation, according to World Carfree Network and WWF (Scheer, Moss, 2012); (WWF). Trees remove absorb carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis, therefore if forests are removed, the process of photosynthesis will slow down leading to higher levels of carbon dioxide. Later on, these amounts of carbon dioxide could have a negative effect on the Earth’s equilibrium (Hilderman, 2010). These effects could be present in the rising of sea levels, extreme climate change, increasing ocean acidification, etc. If people do not take action of deforestation, more than 200 tons of carbon will be in the atmosphere sooner than they expect (Scheer, Moss,