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Deforestation is the cutting down of forests.
Deforestation has occurred to...
- provide timber to use as a building material
- provide wood to be burnt as a fuel
- produce paper from wood
- provide land for agriculture so there can be an increase in the cattle and rice fields to provide more food
Problems with deforestation...
- an increase in carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere because of the burning of wood and the activities of microorganisms which produce carbon dioxide as a waste product of respiration.
- a reduction in the rate at which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and 'locked up' for many years as wood.
- more methane in the atmosphere released by the cattle and rice fields which replace the forests. Rice fields have ideal conditions (warm & wet) for decomposers which produce and release methane.
- a reduction in biodiversity, due to the destruction of a large number of species' habitat, putting them in danger of becoming extinct.
That's the end of today's topic!
Drafted by Yoshi (Biology)