Deforestation...How is it Affecting our Wildlife
- emm0010
- Jun 4, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 8, 2021
Deforestation is one of our world’s biggest issues. Deforestation is when large amounts of forest areas get cut down and then used for urban areas or farmland. This is a real issue in our world as deforestation is affecting many of the things needed to keep our earth healthy.
Trees play an important part to our world. Trees provide us with clean fresh air and reduce most carbon in the atmosphere. Destroying trees increase air pollution which has great effects to our climate. Forests also provide shelter for wildlife
and increases their chance of living. Without a place for most of our wildlife to live our favourite animals will go extinct. Scientists predict that orangutans will go extinct within 10 years due to deforestation. This proves that we need to take action and make a change to how were living.
What Happens To The Trees We Cut down?
When forests are cut down the carbon that is stored in the trees are released into our atmosphere which has large damaging affects to our planet and wildlife. After the tree has been cut down the trunk gets made into many things. One thing that the trunk is made into is mulch. The tree trunk is chipped into small bits of mulch or cut into smaller logs or blocks for other purposes. Then there is the roots and stump left of the tree. The roots and stump remain in the ground as without the leaves the stump cannot produce any food or shelter to its natural wildlife. However, on a rare occasion the stump can sprout again and if developed enough leaves it can eventually grow back into a full tree again.
What Happens To Our Animals?
One by One animals lose their homes due to the rapid change in deforestation. As soon as their habitat is lost, they are even closer to extinction. According to a recent study, the world is losing 137 species of animals, plants and even insects every year to
deforestation. Did you know that Tigers, Rhinos and even Elephants have been losing their food and shelter due to the one big issue deforestation? Do we really want our favourite most interesting animals to be extinct? That would mean there would be no more elephants painting and elephants playing soccer. Do we really want that to happen?
The Magic Of Chernobyl
In 1986 one of four of Chernobyl's nuclear power plants exploded that set fire to the reactor building. That explosion also released large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. Over 100,000 people were evacuated to never return. Hundreds of people got radiation burns while more than 50 emergency firefighters and reactor workers were killed. The blaze went on for 10 days and sent a plume of radiation across the world. The aftermath of this disaster was devastating. Chernobyl was announced uninhabitable for 20,000 years. Despite all of the damage one power plant caused, there has been a remarkable recovery. Within only a decade we have seen the nearby forests re-established itself and animals began to appear. Animals have now taken over the buildings we once called our homes and created a city full of wildlife. Within 20 years scientist have seen a wide growth of population of animals, nearly the same population in the wider parts on Europe. Many of our endangered animals now run freely in the once busy city. This shows how resilient our forests are. Radiation has created a space for wildlife to return. If we give this space to the rest of the world, we will see a difference in our forests. Chernobyl shows how if we give our forests time and space, they can repair themselves and be better than ever.
We have done such damaging affects to our planet that on 3% of Madagascar's dry forests remain. "We are not only losing the animals that once lived in them, but we are also changing the climate of the entire globe" - David Attenborough.
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