What is deforestation?
Deforestation is when humans remove or clear large areas of forest lands and related ecosystems for non-forest use, where the trees are never re-planted. These also include clearing for farming, ranch and urban uses. This results in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world's land area, but groups of forest the size of Panama are lost each and every year.

How deforestation works

There are many different methods of deforestation for many different purposes, all of which end with the same effect. These include land clearing to prepare for livestock grazing or expansion of crop planting, commercial logging and timber harvests and slash-and-burn forest cutting for subsistence farming. There are also many natural events that result in deforestation, such as volcanic eruption, stand wind throw from hurricanes, catastrophic forest fires, or changes in local climate and rainfall regimes, which only represent a small fraction of deforestation worldwide.

Who deforestation effects

The act of deforestation results in many different effects, both positive and negative. Positive effects include job increases in farming as there is more land to develop crops, ect. It increases the economic value to land owners and creates land free to use for building. It also gives poorer people living nearby the affected area jobs, food and space. However some negative examples include soil erosion, where soil and in them are exposed to the sun’s heat. Soil moisture is dried up, nutrients evaporate and bacteria that help break down organic matter are affected. Eventually, rain washes down the soil surfaces and erosion takes place. Soils never get their full potential back. Another includes climate change. Plants absorb Carbon Dioxide CO2 which is a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere and uses it to produce carbohydrates, fats, and proteins that make up trees. In return, it gives off Oxygen. Destroying the forests mean CO2 will remain in the atmosphere and in addition, destroyed vegetation will give off more CO2 stored in them as they break down. This will alter the climate of that region. Cool climates may get a lot hotter and hot places may get a lot cooler. Loss of biodiversity is also an example, where many wonderful species of plants and animals have been lost, and many others remain endangered. More than 80% of the world's species remain in the Tropical Rainforest. It is estimated that about 50 to 100 species of animals are being lost each day as a result of destruction of their habitats, and that is a tragedy. These facts go to show that deforestation affects us humans and our wildlife both positively and negatively. However the negative facts outweigh the positive. How can farmers farm if the very soil they are using is eroding? What if cool places such as Antarctica get a lot hotter and the ice begins to melt? will it raise water levels and flood countries we once knew, as a result of our actions? Will beautiful wildlife we saw as children only be seen in history books because they lost their homes?

Why deforestation is positive

There are quite a few reasons for why deforestation is positive. These can include increasing economic value to land owners and create land free to use for buildings. This makes it possible for communities to be built as forests make way for residential houses, office buildings and factories. Deforestation can also mean the conversion of forest land to productive land for uses like farming. This results in better and more abundant production of food and materials. Economically, deforestation can contribute in giving many communities the opportunity to make positive changes in their lives, such as poor Brazilians working in the Amazon, where they get jobs, food and space.

Why deforestation is negative
Unfortunately, the negative effects outweigh the positive when it comes to deforestation. Some of which include exposing soil to heat and rain.