Deforestation makes our planet warmer: Its effects on the communities that live in rivers and their floodplains can be catastrophic.

Deforestation and forest degradation contributes to global warming. In addition, deforestation accounts for over 20 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions – more than the entire global transportation sector. The burning of forests releases about two billion tons of carbon dioxide, contributing to the greenhouse effect. Extraction of wood affects the forest and the environment. In those areas the rainfall is increasingly irregular and biodiversity is lost. Many communities experience flooding and drought, which adversely affects agriculture, the most important sector in the economy of many countries. Deforestation robs a country of potential renewable revenues and substitutes valuable productive lands with virtually useless scrub and grasslands.

Deforestation makes our planet warmer because it destroys an important buffer between the light of the sun and the soil, creating very damaging effects. These effects can be disastrous on the communities that live in rivers and the human communities that live in their floodplains. Among the main damages made to the communities that live in the rivers are a reduction of habitat for aquatic life and fish stocks, changes in the level of the river bed, erosion and siltation. Damages to the human communities that live in their floodplains include reduction of mammals, birds and fish; soil erosion with detrimental effects for agriculture, reduction of rains with potential drought and other negative consequences, such as flooding.

Forests cover about 30 percent of the Earth’s land surface (about 4 billion hectares) and provide valuable ecosystem services and goods; serve as a habitat for a large range of flora and fauna and also hold an important amount of global carbon. The forests keep and sustain global ecosystems. They increase humidity through transpiration (the process by which plants release water through their leaves) and rainfall. However, when forests are cut down, less moisture is evaporated into the atmosphere and fewer rain clouds are formed. As the rainfall decreases, the land becomes dry’ the flow of the river declines and less water is available for agricultural lands, villages and towns. Deforestation also has a negative effect on more than half of all creatures and organisms in the planet which live in the forests. In addition, forests are important to the world economy.

When forests are lost, the amount of suitable habitat is decreased, reducing fish and aquatic populations. Deforestation is responsible for the erosion of riverbanks which have affected the levels of river beds worldwide and have had negative impacts on water life and fish stocks. The rivers have the ability to modify habitats and construct new ones. Swamps, ponds, marshes and small stream are frequently formed at the edge of large rivers. Some types of tress only live on the banks of the rivers and when their seed fall into the water they can float great distances. Other trees use fish populations for fish dispersal  The fish eat the seeds and then migrate and excrete the seeds in several places throughout the floodplains.

Deforestation also makes sediments to accumulate in the river channels, raise the river beds, increase the severity of floods and creates shoals and sandbars that make river navigation difficult. As the suspended particles reach the ocean, the water becomes cloudy, causing regional declines in coral reefs and affecting coastal fisheries.

Historically, many towns have been built on the floodplains because these are the areas where water is most available, land is usually fertile and relatively flat, and river transportation links the neighboring communities similarly situated at the river margins. It is also in those communities where railroads often are located.

Deforestation alters the fragile balance of these environments. Floodplains are the connectors between different habitats. Mammals, birds and fish migrate along those environments. If any of these corridors get blocked the plants and animals are prevented from moving through the forests. The soil of the floodplains is usually extremely rich because of the seasonal sediment that comes with the flooding. Deforestation is a threat not only to established fisheries but to the environment.

The World Bank estimates that governments lose about US $ 5 billion in revenues every year as a result of illegal logging and that the overall losses to the national economies of the timber-producing countries may be an additional US$ 10 billion per year, although legal logging also produces deforestation.

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"The Amazon forests are disappearing at the rate of 50 football fields a minute, or 32 million acres (13 million hectares) a year. . . 1.7% of the original forested areas that were cut down by humans are growing back."—Reuters"

Scientists in the UK and Germany have discovered that trees release a chemical that thickens clouds above them, which reflects more sunlight and so cools the Earth. The research suggests that chopping down forests could accelerate global warming more than was thought, and that protecting existing trees could be one of the best ways to tackle the problem."—Guardian (UK)

"On a clear summer afternoon, the air in a typical city is about 3K (5°F) warmer than that in the surrounding countryside."—eetd.lbl.gov/l2m2/cool.html

"Global deforestation increased sharply in the mid-1800s, and about half of the mature tropical forests that covered the planet have been cleared."—Wiki 

"Ultimately, the amount of carbon will increase due to a lack of plant life present to keep the carbon dioxide levels in check. This whole process leads to an 'albedo effect' which reflects more heat and light back into the atmosphere than would be the case if the sun shone on green trees."—umich.edu/~gs265/society/deforestation.htm

Scientists discover cloud-thickening chemicals in trees that could offer a new weapon in the fight against global warming

The scientists looked at chemicals called terpenes that are released from boreal forests across northern regions such as Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. The chemicals give pine forests their distinctive smell, but their function has puzzled experts for years. Some believe the trees release them to communicate, while others say they could offer protection from air pollution.
The team found the terpenes react in the air to form tiny particles called aerosols. The particles help turn water vapour in the atmosphere into clouds.
Spracklen said the team's computer models showed that the pine particles doubled the thickness of clouds some 1,000m above the forests, and would reflect an extra 5% sunlight back into space.
He said: "It might not sound a lot, but that is quite a strong cooling effect. The climate is such a finely balanced system that we think this effect is large enough to reduce temperatures over quite large areas. It gives us another reason to preserve forests."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/31/forests-climatechange

Cool Materials and Shade Trees

On a clear summer afternoon, the air in a typical city is about 3K (5°F) warmer than that in the surrounding countryside. This phenomenon, known as the summer urban heat island, results from a lack of vegetation and a prevalence of dark surfaces in cities. Urban heat islands can be uncomfortable, aggravate heat-related illnesses, and make heat waves more deadly. Higher air temperatures also accelerate smog formation and increase demand for air conditioning on a hot summer afternoon. This spike in air conditioning demand is expensive and polluting, and can induce brownouts or even blackouts by straining the electrical grid.

http://eetd.lbl.gov/l2m2/cool.html

The 1860's English Tree had become more innovative than the delicate trees of earlier decades. Small toys were popularly hung on the branches, but still most gifts were placed on the table under the tree. Around this time, the Christmas tree was spreading into other   parts of Europe. The German tree was beginning to suffer from mass destruction! It had become the fashion to lop off the tip off a large tree to use as a Christmas Tree, which prevented the tree from growing further. Statutes were made to prevent people having more than one tree.
http://www.christmasarchives.com/trees.html

The most active period of timber harvesting in the history of Alaska's interior occurred nearly a century ago (Roessler 1997). The beginning of this era was the year 1869, when steam-powered, stern-wheeled riverboats first operated on the Yukon River (Robe 1943).
http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/25552

Global deforestation increased sharply in the mid-1800s, and about half of the mature tropical forests, between 7.5 million to 8 million square kilometres (2.9 million to 3 million sq mi) of the original 15 million to 16 million square kilometres (5.8 million to 6.2 million sq mi) that until, 1947 covered the planet have been cleared.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation#cite_ref-Wilson_41-2

The process of greenhouse gas increase is quite simple. Carbon dioxide levels increase for a number of reasons; but one of the main factors contributing to the increase of carbon levels is decay of woody material. The only way to help moderate the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is through plant life. Alive plants and trees absorb the carbon dioxide from decaying plants and trees. With a decrease in trees and plant life (due to deforestation) it is much harder to moderate these levels. Ultimately, the amount of carbon will increase due to a lack of plant life present to keep the carbon dioxide levels in check. This whole process leads to an "albedo effect which reflects more heat and light back into the atmosphere than would be the case if the sun shone on green trees�" (Dudley 23). The bottom line is that the increase in the carbon level and other greenhouse gas levels into the atmosphere leads to an increase in temperature, and eventually a change in climate and weather.

http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/deforestation.htm