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Calvin Crossland

Ms. Levesque

Communications

8 November 2017

Deforestation- Let's Solve it

It is known that 46 to 58 thousand square miles of forests are lost every year, which is the

equivalent to 48 football fields every minute (Deforestation.). This is an awfully immense and

serious problem, and if something is not done now, the world that exists will be destroyed.

Forests are something highly important to human lives, and it is an incredibly big complication

that they are being lost so fast. There is still a way to save forests, but it is necessary to act now.

Deforestation is a problem where forests and nature are cut down, and then the different

parts of them (tree trunks, tree leaves and land area) are used for various things. Forests cover

31% of the world that we live in, produce oxygen, and provide homes for humans and animals.

Additionally, a great deal of the worlds most endangered species live in forests, and 1.6 billion

people rely on forests for food, water, clothing, medicine, and shelter. A big example of

deforestation is that 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been lost in the past 50 years. Most of it is

cut down for conservation of cattle stock ranching (Deforestation.). Everyone in the world is

affected by deforestation because without forests there would be a great deal less oxygen, and

humans need oxygen to live. It will also take away a large amount of food for humans. Finally,

this will affect some people and a collection of animals that live in forests, because it will take

away their homes.

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Deforestation has been going on for a long time, and it is only becoming worse. There are

many different causes to deforestation, but some are bigger than others. It originated when

humans started needing logs for fires and homes, and when they started needing to clear land for

agriculture. One cause is livestock ranching, where forests become cleared areas to have farm

animals, such as cattle. Another source is infrastructure expansion, where forests become cleared

areas to put in roads through previously remote lands. A third cause is overpopulation, since the

amount of humans keeps increasing over the years, which means that more space is needed and

more stuff that comes from nature is required (Lam). One last source of deforestation is illegal

logging. It happens in forests all around the world, and destroys nature and wildlife. Illegally

harvested wood finds its way to major consumption markets (Deforestation Causes.). All of

these are major and important causes of deforestation, that cannot continue to happen.

With all of these causes come effects, and deforestation is an exceedingly serious

problem that has a great deal of life-threatening consequences. One effect of deforestation is the

loss of habitat. It is the loss of both known and unknown species due to the loss of their habitats

because of deforestation (Effects of Deforestation). One consequence to this is that humans

need animals to continue living, since food is obtained from them, and they keep the life cycle

going. This means that without them humans could all die. A second effect of deforestation is

increased greenhouse gases, trees give us oxygen and keep greenhouse gases, which are

damaging gases to our atmosphere, from going into the air. This means the loss of so many trees

let's more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (Effects of Deforestation). The aftermath to

this is that greenhouse gases can lead to global warming, which is another remarkably significant

complication, which could end human lives. The water cycle is also affected by deforestation.
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Trees are an important part of the water cycle; they absorb rain and release water vapor back into

the atmosphere (Bradford). Without trees, the effect of the water cycle loss is that humans,

plants, and animals need water to live, and without it will die. One final aftermath from

deforestation is life quality. Soil erosion can lead to silt entering water sources, which can lead to

poor water quality and people nearby the water source becoming sick (Bradford). The

consequence to this is that eventually all water will become dirty, that will be the only water that

can be obtained, and it will make humans all sick. These are all certainly complicated problems

that one would think there is no solution to, but there still is; it just has to be done now.

The solution to deforestation is to use drones to plant new trees in different areas. This

will replace the trees that have been lost without damaging the planet. The first step is to have

the drones do a 3-D aerial survey and create a seeding plan. Then the seed pods that are on the

drones need to be loaded. After that the drones hover around the area planting the seeds, and then

fly around monitoring the growth of the plants. (Daly)

The first step in this solution is to have the drones do a 3-D survey and create a seeding

plan. In this part of the solution drones are sent over a potential planting zone, taking pictures to

make 3-D maps of the area that will be reforested. After analyzing the land, a seeding pattern is

made according to the terrain. (Daly)

The second step for this solution is to load the seed pods on the drones. In this step, the

drones, which have control and guidance softwares, are loaded with pressurized canisters of

seed pods with germinated seeds immersed in a nutrient-rich gel. (Daly)

In the final step, the drones fly around planting the seeds, and then they monitor the

growth. Specifically, the drones fly around at around 1-2 meters above ground firing the seeds,
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which will open on impact giving the seeds a chance to grow. After all the seeds are planted, the

drones fly around from time to time checking the health of the plants with their cameras. (Daly)

Some people would say that this should not be done because it will cost a great deal of

money. It will take a lot of financing. But, if it is not invested in now, then all forests will die and

become completely cut down, which will make us lose a substantial amount of resources. This

could eventually lead to human extinction, since the resources that are needed for human beings

to survive will not be available.

Deforestation is a big problem that has a great deal of different, incredibly bad causes and

effects, but it still has a solution. This dilemma will just keep becoming bigger and bigger unless

something is done about it. Deforestation could lead to humans eventual extinction if nothing is

executed to prevent it. It may sound like there is no way to save forests, but that is not true, there

is still a way to save them, but acting now is needed to succeed.

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Work Cited

Bradford, Alina. Deforestation: Facts, Causes & Effects. LiveScience, Purch, 4 Mar.

2015.

Daly, James. Re-Planting a Forest, One Drone at a Time. Wired, Conde Nast, 6 Aug.

2015.

Deforestation Causes. WWF, World Wide Fund for Nature, 2017.

Deforestation. WWF, World Wildlife Fund, 2017.

Effects of Deforestation | The Pachamama Alliance. Pachamama Alliance,

Pachamama Alliance, 2017.

Lam, Paulina. 5 Big Causes of Deforestation and How You Can Stop It. One Green

Planet, One Green Planet, 10 May 2017.

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