Deforestation may seem like a small problem, but the environmental and animal impacts are vast and potentially devastating. According to National Geographic, deforestation is clearing Earth’s forests on a massive scale often causing damage to the quality of the land and subsequent habitants. Although, thirty percent of the land is still forest, 46-58 thousand square miles of forest per year which is the equivalent to 48 football fields per minute every minute is lost every year. At this rate, there will likely be no forests in one hundred years.
The postmodern view has a skewed definition of reality, which has humans believing they are the only living beings that matter– the idea that humans are dominant over all natural resources, animals, and plants. This impacts wildlife because as humans are cutting down forests for urban development in an attempt toward human greatness, animals are being displaced, threatened with extinction, and some are killed.
So why does this all matter for animals? Deforestation not only drives climate change, but it also snatches land from nearly seventy percent of the Earth’s animals and plants that otherwise cannot survive.
Embed from Getty ImagesClimate change is linked to a change in greenhouse gas emissions as well as lack of protection by the sun which affects the water cycle and soil erosion. Greenhouse gas emission rise with deforestation and at unprecedented rates. To put it succinctly, trees provide shelter for animals, but they also help regulate the temperature for certain species and control the water cycle, keeping runoff water from polluting drinking water.
Deforestation also affects the larger cycle of animal life including birth and death rates. As animal habitats are wiped out, some species become smaller and live shorter lives which disrupts the food chain and animal ecosystem. With the loss of their habitat, animals are forced to live in smaller areas and the smallest natural disaster can mean the end of their species.
The epidemic of deforestation demonstrates that when we consider wildlife conservation, it’s easy to see and advocate for big and beautiful animals like lions but everything is interconnected. We simply cannot discuss the illegal killing of one animal without also recognizing the environmental aspects.
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