Deforestation: Impact on Carbon Cycle, Hydrological Cycle, and Biodiversity

Deforestation: Impact on Carbon Cycle, Hydrological Cycle, and Biodiversity
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Deforestation: Impact on Carbon Cycle, Hydrological Cycle, and Biodiversity
Deforestation is defined as a deliberate act of removing natural tree cover to clear the land for housing, agricultural, or industrial activities, out of several negative impacts of deforestation on natural environment disruption in the carbon cycle triggered by the unwanted increase in carbon dioxide concentration; the unnatural pattern of the hydrological cycle due to lack of rainfall; and reduction in biodiversity top the list. These factors significantly disturb human life and activities by creating serious health problems, abnormal weather patterns, food scarcity, and water shortage. Besides, reduction in biodiversity is negatively altering the natural food chains and creating an imbalance between living and non-living environments. The following paragraphs reveal, using scientific data and facts, the extent of the negative impact of deforestation with an aim to suggest ways to minimize deforestation and its negative impacts.
According to one estimate, global deforestation destroyed approximately 13-million-hectare forest cover annually in ten years from 2000 to 2010. Accordingly, the forest destruction rate is about 0.37% per annum (Chakravarty et al., 2012). Since huge tree cover provides a perfect medium to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide that they use to produce their food, the destruction of forests increases carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere because of the lack of trees that can absorb it. The carbon cycle is a natural process that maintains the quantity of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to a bearable. In this process, the tree cover absorbs the carbon dioxide released from living things, including plants and human activities, so its concentration may not increase in the atmosphere. Consequently, carbon dioxide emissions increase dangerously in the absence or reduction of the tree cover or forests. According to one estimate, the removal of tree cover of tropical forests is responsible for releasing about 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on an annual basis (Chakravarty et al., 2012). This additional amount of carbon dioxide that the trees should have absorbed remains in the air. Since carbon dioxide gas can absorb and trap sunlight, its increase leads to an increase in global temperature, especially in tropical regions. Moreover, tree cover loss also reduces carbon storage in trees to be used in the future (Dixon et al., 2018). Consequently, the natural process of absorbing and using carbon dioxide by plants experiences a significant disruption. As a result of the malfunctioning of the carbon cycle, the earth’s overall temperature is increasing at an unprecedented speed. This unwanted increase in temperature or global warming is causing dangerous climate changes, melting glaciers, and spreading diseases.
Another crucial impact of deforestation is the disruption of the natural water cycle. The water cycle is a process that maintains the quantity of water in all-natural resources through evaporation and ...