Deforestation: Its Impact on Carbon and Hydrological Cycles and Biodiversity

Essay Instructions:

Directions: Be sure to make an electronic copy of your answer before submitting it for grading. Unless otherwise stated, answer in complete sentences, and be sure to use correct English spelling and grammar. Sources must be cited in APA format. Your response should be four (4) pages in length; refer to the "Assignment Format" link on the course homepage for specific format requirements.
In your course, turn to the Lesson 4. Skim through it to refresh your memory. Next, carefully study and review the section in Lecture Notes titled, “Ecological Challenges.” Skim through that and then focus on the topic of deforestation.
Using your own words, write a short descriptive essay that defines and explains selected environmental impacts of deforestation. As you write, imagine you are talking to a friend who has no knowledge of this topic. In short, write the way you speak, using a conversational tone. Also, try to alternate short sentences and longer sentences to make your writing more readable.
Be sure to create a title and cite yourself as the author. For example:
Environmental Impacts of Deforestation
Your essay should include five paragraphs, as follows:
Paragraph 1 is your lead paragraph. It will contain an overview of what you have to say about these three topics: disruption of the carbon cycle, disruption of the hydrologic (water) cycle, and the reduction of species diversity.
Paragraphs 2, 3, and 4, are your body paragraphs.
Paragraph 2 should describe how deforestation disrupts the carbon cycle.
In paragraph 3, you’ll write about how deforestation disrupts the hydrologic (water) cycle.
In paragraph 4, you’ll explain how deforestation is related to declining species diversity.
Paragraph 5 is your conclusion paragraph. Here, you can describe how you feel about the three effects of deforestation discussed, and what we might do about it.
It’s permissible to use direct quotes from your reading, but don’t use too many. One to three such quotes should be your limit. Be sure to put a direct quote in quotation marks. For example: According to Smith, “Carbon dioxide is both our friend and our enemy.”
Begin by writing a first draft. Then, edit and rework your material to make it clear and concise. After you have reached a final draft, proofread the essay one last time to locate and correct grammar and spelling errors.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Deforestation: Its Impact on Carbon and Hydrological Cycles and Biodiversity
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Deforestation: Its Impact on Carbon and Hydrological Cycles and Biodiversity
On account of exponential population growth in the last two centuries, the removal of forest cover has increased substantially as new land is needed for housing and agricultural development. This process of large-scale cutting of forest trees is called deforestation. Unfortunately, deforestation seriously disturbs the natural interaction between living and non-living things by interrupting the natural cycle of materials, including the carbon and hydrological cycles, which maintain and fix the quantity of carbon and water on earth. Additionally, the loss of trees also reduces biodiversity by destroying the natural habitats of plants and animals. These negative impacts of deforestation are posing grave threats to the existence of life on earth by triggering issues like global warming, climate change, the spread of diseases, and rising sea level. Therefore, the following paragraph provides empirical evidence to expose the threats that deforestation imposes on life and suggest potential remedial measures to be taken.
The carbon cycle is a natural process that maintains the quantity of carbon in the atmosphere and land by effective removal and release of carbon dioxide. Forest cover is mainly responsible for absorbing a significant volume of carbon dioxide from the air and changing it into food; without forest cover, excessive carbon dioxide is released from breathing and human activities, including industries and automobile fumes (Anonymous, n.d.). According to one study, tropical rainforest alone significantly reduced the impact of unwanted carbon dioxide released from human activities between 1960 to 2015 by limiting the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 50% instead of releasing 80% additional carbon dioxide in the air. However, on account of continuous deforestation, this tropical forest cover will become a source of carbon instead of controlling the carbon emissions by absorbing carbon dioxide (Mitchard, 2018).
Accordingly, this excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will disrupt the natural carbon absorbing mechanism and aggravate phenomena like global warming and climate change. This study also suggests that on account of this rapid loss, the efforts to minimize the carbon dioxide percentage to 2% will be significantly hampered, and very large-scale plantation activities will be needed to restore these forests (Mitchard, 2018). These findings, the disruption of carbon emission due to loss of forest cover, explain the role of deforestation in the disruption of the carbon cycle and its consequences. The scientific facts corroborate these findings as it is now proven that less absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide from trees leads to the availability of more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Therefore, since carbon dioxide can trap sunlight, this extra carbon dioxide causes an unwanted increase in the earth's temperature called global warming.
So it is evident that deforestation causes global warming by disrupting the natural absorptio...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Deforestation: Its Impact on Carbon and Hydrological Cycles and Biodiversity

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