Deforestation

Do you ever wondered why certain animals are becoming extinct?  Or forests around you a being cut down and new roads or buildings are being put up?  This is called deforestation.  Deforestation refers to  cutting down trees and large forests and replacing them with buildings, farms, or roads.  Deforestation is one of the main reasons our climate is changing and getting worse.  Once trees are cut down, carbon dioxide, a toxic gas is released into the air causing global warming.  Global warming is when the temperature in the air heats up.  Many plants and animals cannot take all the carbon dioxide in the air, so eventually they die (1).*
Deforestation happens for a few reasons.  The one reason is logging.  Logging is the work of cutting down  trees and taking them to be made into timber, paper, and other things.  Most loggers do their job illegally, and only do it to make money for themselves.  Loggers do not care about what cutting down trees is doing to our environment, as long as they are making money.
Another reason for deforestation is cattle ranches.  Farmers have acres of forest cut down so that cattle can grow.  However, the farmers usually end up killing the cattle for food.  Cattle ranches are the number one reason for deforestation, and accounts for 80% of deforestation all over the world (2).*

Image from http://kids.mongabay.com/lesson_plans/lisa_algee/deforestation.html

In the image above, you can see how serious deforestation is becoming around the world.  Animals are having many problems finding food and shelter because their homes are being destroyed.

Prevent Deforestation

There are many simple things you can do to stop or lessen deforestation.  Every little act can make a huge difference and more people will see you doing it and will join in.

• Recycle!- recycling is one of the easiest things to do.  Recycling paper, cans, glass, and plastic can reduce the need for more trees and can cut down carbon dioxide in the air.  Also, use both sides of the paper when writing.
• Encourage family and friends to carpool, producing less toxic gases in the air.
• Buy products that are from recycled materials such as notebooks, pencils, toilet paper, etc.

There are many other things you can do to help prevent deforestation.


References:
1- http://kids.mongabay.com/lesson_plans/lisa_algee/deforestation.html
2-http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/problems/unsustainable_cattle_ranching/