Deforestation

How do we Get it All?

Have you ever stopped to think where we get the paper we use to draw on, make books, or fold paper airplanes out of? You may already know that it all comes the wood of a tree, but how do we get so much of it? We get all of that paper and lots of other things by cutting down trees. Cutting down some trees can be okay, but taking too many causes something called deforestation.

What Exactly is Deforestation?

fig. 2

Deforestation is when all or a big part of a forest is cut down. The bad news is that when we do this, the environment is hurt. The environment is any place that a plant, person or animal lives. Deforestation hurts the environment by causing the weather to change. This is called climate change. When a lot of trees are cut down, all the water that is trapped in the air under the trees goes away, which could make a forest or jungle either cooler or warmer. The new changes could make the forest too hot, too cool, too rainy, or not rainy enough, which makes plants and animals like the koala in figure 2 not want to live there anymore (1). This is a problem, because sometimes when one thing goes wrong in the environment, the whole thing comes tumbling down, like how taking one of the blocks from the bottom of a Jenga tower makes it fall apart.

If it Hurts the Planet, Why do we do it?

If you look around the room right now, chances are that you will see a lot of things that are made of wood. Desks, chairs, paper, and floorboards. Everywhere you look you can probably see something that's made of wood. All of that wood has to come from somewhere. We also cut down trees to make room for farms, houses, towns, cities, and parks. Obviously, we have to cut down a lot of trees to make all of these things possible. Even though we are starting to use things such as bamboo and recycled wood more often, we will probably always need normal wood for some things (2). It is also well known that cutting down forests hurts the planet when the machines used release gases into the air. Since so many people know why deforestation is dangerous, many people want to do something about it. These people can be considered environmentalists, which means that they put a lot of thought into how the world is treated.

What can an Environmentalist do?

fig. 3

Evironmentalists do many things to make sure that the forests and jungles stay around. This means that you can be one too. They join and create groups that want the government to stop people from cutting down too much of a jungle or forest (3). Doing that is mostly for adults, but environmentalists also do smaller things that you can do as well. They try to use less paper, which you can do by using both sides of a piece of paper when you do school work or draw, or you can dry your hands with a cloth towel instead of a paper towel. They also plant trees in some places that need them. This is usually done by planting baby trees the the one in figure 3, but you can plant seed that you find so you can help a forest grow. By doing these things and taking an interest in saving the planet, you become an environmentalist too. There are loads of ways you can help. Can you think of any other ways that you can keep forest from being cut down?

Bibliography

1. Longobardi, P., Montenegro, A., Beltrami, H., & Eby, M. (2016). Deforestation induced climate change: Effects of spatial scale. Plos ONE, (4), doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0153357

2. Pimiento, N. N., Alférez Rivas, L. E., Morales, N. D., & Caro Ballestas, A. S. (2014). Laminated wood and chipboard flooring towards environmentally friendly alternatives. Visión Electrónica, 8(1), 206-220.

3. Lee, Y. J. (2013). The Lacey Act amendments of 2008: The world's first ban on illegal logging combats deforestation but gets stumped by foreign laws. San Diego Journal Of Climate & Energy Law, 5187-208.
Stillman, K. (Artist). Carvings in books [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.visualnews.com/2011/06/20/graceful-3d-trees-cut-in-discarded-books/
[Photograph of a koala]. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/a/jeffcoschools.us/i-speak-for-the-trees/
Fay, A. (Photographer). (2016). Baby Tree [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://adinafay.deviantart.com/art/Baby-Tree-276019088