Currently, forests cover approximately one fifth of the world's land. Forests provide us with many products we use in our everyday lives. They also provide for us in other ways such from helping stop soil erosion to providing us with medical drugs, dyes and fabrics.. Humanity depends on the survival of a healthy ecosystem and deforestation is causing many social, economic and ecological problems.

Approximately 12 million hectares of forests are depleted each year. Ninety percent of the clearing occurs in the tropical rainforests. At the current rate of clearing, all tropical rainforests will be lost by the year 2050.(WWF)

There are many reasons that deforestation occurs. Commercial Logging, Ranching, and farming are the main causes of deforestation. The UNFPA (United Nations Fund for Population Activities) said in it's 1990 report that population growth may have been responsible for as much as eighty percent of the forest land cleared between 1971 and 1986 to make room for agriculture, cattle ranching, houses, roads and industries (Ramphal, 1992, p.55)

Our forests are invaluable resource to all. Not just for the wood, but as they maintain life on earth. They are continuing to be destroyed at a rate that will not permit their return when humanity realizes its errors. Our forests are perhaps the most threatened aspect of earth as a result of population growth, and the one that we can least afford to lose.

What are the effects of deforestation Forests are great natural repositories of carbon. Trees breathe in carbon dioxide and store it, acting as carbon reservoirs. As such, they are invaluable agents in keeping the level of carbon in the atmosphere stable. As forests are destroyed worldwide, especially by burning, carbon dioxide is released into the air, adding to the stock of greenhouse gases that are now warming our planet and changing its climate. Carbon dioxide accounts for half of global warming, and fossil fuels account for two-thirds of manmade carbon dioxide (Ehrlich and Ehrlich, 1970, p.134). The consumption of energy from fossil fuels; coal, oil, and natural gas used for industrial, commercial, residential, transportation and other purpose results in large emissions. Thus, the energy sector accounts for nearly half of global warming, forty six percent.

Desertification is closely related with deforestation. When a forest is cut of burned down, the trees, which once held the rich topsoil together and protected it's under the canopy are gone. The soil becomes susceptible to high sunlight and heavy rainfall this quickly damages the topsoil in tropical rainforest, causing them to loose soil nutrients and also dries out the soil.

10. Schlaepfer, Rudolph. Long Term Implications of Climate Change and Air Pollution on Forest Ecosystems. Vienna: IUFRO, 1994.

Tropical forests cover about 10 per cent of the world's dry land surface, mostly located in South America and Asia

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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)