Posting my assignment here! 😍
Deforestation:
Topic: Natural means of Climate change or Manmade means of Climate Change. (There did not have to be a conclusion)
Over 900 words. (Blackboard says 966, Google Docs says 976.) 🤷♀️
Assignment Instructions: Choose one of the natural or manmade causes of climate change, current or past. Describe how it works, and how significant it is to change. What is at least one way the Earth responded to, or is responding to the change? Should be around 200 words.
Grade Made: 100%
Deforestation is defined by the removal of trees from an expansive area of land. This is a purposeful action by man, not something done accidentally by man. If trees were torn from the ground by strong winds that is not deforestation. That is just debris, the trees become debris. Because the wind tore the trees from the ground. Making that natural. But I am focusing on the first type. Which has devastating effects.
To start off it is estimated around ten million hectares are deforested per year or 24,710,538.1 acres a year. Making this type of climate changing one of the most devastating on our planet. This has driven over a hundred species of plants and animals to become critically endangered or flat out be extinct. If neither has happened, then at the very least it has happened to a plethora of other animals and plants. With over ten million defrosted a year this threatens hundreds if not thousands of species’ habitats. Such as the Spix’s Macaw for example. It was prior to its habitat being threatened thriving in the wild. Now it is in places such as zoos so the species can continue to exist or is an exotic house pet.
Either way the animal will be miserable. Depression rates in wild animals in captivity, specifically zoos run high. The reason for this is that these wild or as some may know them as exotic, animals are day in and day out exposed to people. This stresses them out this could be for a myriad of reasons and I won’t elaborate or this post could be too long. What is relevant is this causes stress. This leads to chronic stress. Which then leads to depression in the wild animal despite it having all its necessities taken care of.
Not only are the animals miserable, people are more miserable too. What I mean is people are going hungry. Hungrier than before. The forests provide the poor with lots of food. In fact people experiencing extreme poverty ninety percent of them rely on the forest for food. Without the forest to provide animals and plants that these people are hunting and gathering. That means there is no food source.
With most of the documented species in the world being found in forest you can see why this is a problem, right? Just in case I will elaborate on a species lost. The Flabellidium Spinosum. This plant was a genus of the moss plant and was lost due to deforestation. It is native to Bolivia. With an appearance of yellowy green branches and a short appearance it was unfortunately not very recognized. It did not even get a common name apparently. It is representative largely to me at least of all the plants or even animals. That is not paid attention to. It was not cared for. Its environment was destroyed and it slipped into extinction just that fast.
Deforestation is an issue that has been going on for decades. Resulting as we just touched on species threatening, loss, and dwindling of numbers. But what I did not mention earlier is now around thirty percent of Western Europe is forested. Due to deforestation. It used to be eighty percent though before deforestation occurred.
Bringing me to my next point! The Earth's response to all of this devastation. Well for starters plants can only take in so much Carbon Dioxide. With less plants around that means less Carbon Dioxide being taken from the atmosphere. With less animals, yes that's less Carbon Dioxide being breathed out but the thing is. There are billions of people in the world. So it is a moot point to see it as anything positive. The negatives outweigh what some may see as a benefit. (But I already mentioned the lack of food.)
So moving on to the next response of the Earth. There is less oxygen produced. Humans and animals alike rather that be aquatic animals or not need Oxygen. With less plants and these remaining plants being removed by the millions every year, this spells disaster. Meaning less Oxygen to go around. Without Oxygen, we cannot breathe.
My final example is how the soil is affected by this. Trees also keep the nutrients that make their way into the soil there. Without the trees to protect the soil these nutrients are washed away by mass if not entirely. Which also prevents other flora and fauna from sprouting. Because without trees to be there to drop seeds or animals to be there to catch the seeds in their fur then it cannot make its way to the soil. Even removing animals from the equation there has to be a plant for there to be plant seeds. So the species population can continue.
This messes with the cycles that have existed for millions of millions of years. Throwing off the climate as well. Because without the trees to cover the soil, then the Earth heats up even more. Due to there being no cover from the sun’s heat.
Sources:
Deforestation and Forest Loss - Our World in Data
COP26: This is how mass deforestation is wiping out species around the world - ABC News
13 Animals That Have Gone Extinct Due to Deforestation (ourendangeredworld.com)
Chronic captivity stress in wild animals is highly species-specific - PMC (nih.gov)
10 Species Lost to Deforestation | Greentumble
Effects of deforestation on humans and the environment (thehumaneleague.org)
Flabellidium spinosum Herzog 1916 - Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org)
Flabellidium Spinosum - Natural History - Ecology Center
Santa Cruz bryophyte (Fungi, soil crusts and Lichens of Winton) · iNaturalist
Deforestation (nationalgeographic.org)
Deforestation: Effects, Causes, Statistics, And Solutions (eos.com)
Deforestation - Soil Erosion, Biodiversity Loss, Climate Change | Britannica
30 Facts About Deforestation & Its Effects On the Environment (greenglobaltravel.com) What Are the Causes and Effects of Deforestation? (sentientmedia.org)
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Happy Full Moon in Gemini!
Hope you have a wonderful and fresh, gentle start into the new week.
The pre-Full Moon time has already been veery intense for me mentally, a lot of things swirling in my mind, testing me. Feeling so tested especially when it comes to my resilience. I have been very strong though. I allowed the energy and emotion to enter my body and I allowed myself to feel it, then to let it go. And by ,letting go' I mean transmuting it into something that can serve me for my highest good. That can teach me a lesson and that carries wisdom within, as there is no wisdom without pain that has been felt and that has been transmuted . This Gemini Full Moon is showing me a lot on the inside,at the same time I am also feeling very aligned to the Sagittarius Season as it is my rising sign. Ive finally managed to be more physically active, on a more regular basis. Not everyday, but when my body is sending me the signals , I am more and more tuning into it instead of ignoring it and getting stuck in my thoughts. Also sleeping with an open window when the winter season has just started is giving me pure bliss, letting me wake up more refreshed, more relaxed and grounded. I am so thankful for the Snow as I never have been before. For all the snowflakes transmitting cosmic energy. For warmth within. For radiating my inner Sunshine. For tuning into my body vessel. For listening more to my body. Also my connection to air always seems strengthened when I let the window open- (I normally do this all the time in summer, autummn in spring, but I tend to forget it in the winter. I often get headaches from the heater when it is on for too long), allowing me to feel the freshness of a cold day, making it necessary for me to activate my bloodcells by moving and nourishing myself. It's a true gift.
Sending Love <3
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