Deforestation and Biodiversity Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Pa

disforestation, specify by biologist Charles Southwick as the destruction of forests may involve clear-cutting or selective logging (p. 365), is a predominantly human-driven process that is dramatically neutering ecosystems worldwide. Clear-cutting involves the indiscriminant removal of every single plant and tree species from within a selected area. The different major process of deforestation, selective logging, focuses removal efforts on scarcely specific, predetermined tree species within a chosen area. The statistics gathered just about human deforestation over time are considerable, and they can be somewhat controversial. Depending on the source and the location selected, the magnitude of deforestation varies. Southwick estimates that, roughly 10,000 years ago, 6.2 billion hectares (23.9 million square miles) of forest existed on mankind (p. 117). That figure is equivalent to 45.5% of the earths total land. He further estimates that, by 1990, this bill had declined 30%, with only 4.3 billion hectares of forest remaining (p. 117). Southwick also acknowledges other estimates that place the total amount of deforestation between 50% and 75% (p. 117). NASA has similar deforestation statistics that confirm these trends. According to their website, 16.5% of the Brazilian Amazon forests bugger off been destroyed. They also note similar magnitudes of deforestation in Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam), disrespect the significantly smaller total area of forest within these countries. These disastrous figures are somewhat tempered by the NASA finding that, over the knightly ten years, the deforestation rate has declined from 6,200 square miles per year to 4,800 square miles per year. though this trend is n... ...later time. Though it is simply im likely to know what the ultimate effects will be on our long term survival as a species, it is important to bear in mind that, once a species has been eliminat ed through extinction, it cannot be brought back. So, for the overall health of our rainforests, their biodiversity, and the limitless potential contained therein, it is polar for us, as humans, to make as honest an effort as possible at their preservation. ReferencesSouthwick, Charles H. Global Ecology in Human Perspective. Oxford University Press saucy York, 1996.Vandermeer, J. & Perfecto, I. Breakfast of Biodiversity. The Institute for Food and Development Policy Oakland, CA, 1995.WebsitesNASAhttp//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Deforestation/deforestation_3.html National Institute of Healthhttp//ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1997/105-11/focus-abs.html