Pd+7,+Group+6

Caitlyn, Jessica, and Alyshia

Because of a very busy schedule, this fall’s EarthKAM mission will consist of an investigation into how certain human activities affect the climate of an area. For our investigation, we choose to look at how the climate of an area is affected by deforestation and the resulting agricultural or urban land use.We would also like to explore how the global ecosystem is affected by deforestation and the resulting agricultural or urban land use. Our final subject is to discover what you can do to reduce the impact of deforestation.

As an answer to the first question: studies have shown that deforestation makes land drier and causes soil erosion. This is caused because tree roots hold in moisture and keep the dirt together. When the trees are cut down the roots die and are no longer able to retain the necessary moisture. Deforestation also cases lowered levels of precipitation. With less vegetation there is less evaporative transpiration, the process in which water is evaporated from leaves of plants. So lowered levels of evaporation lead to lowered levels of precipitations. One other way it affects the climate is the habitat fragmentation which disturbs the animals’ habitat and may force them the enter habitats that are already occupied which can cause problems.



Now I’m going to answer the second of three questions now. Deforestation not only affects climate on a local basis, but it also affects the global ecosystem as well. Deforestation is the number two cause of Global Carbon Dioxide emissions. This contribution to the greenhouse effect is cause by two methods of deforestation. When trees are cut down, excess carbon stored in the trunk is released into the atmosphere where it is joined with oxygen molecules, creating CO2. The second method of deforestation iscalled the slash and burn method. They burn the trees to create room for farmland, which also releases CO2 into the atmosphere. In addition to CO2, deforestation cases the releasing of other types of greenhouse gases such as; Methane, nitrous oxide, ammonia, carbon monoxide, sulfur gases, and water vapor. Although these gasses are not all harmful, many of them are and it is imperative that we protect the global enviornment from these harmful greenhouse gases.



Last but certainly not least, there are many ways you can reduce the impact of deforestation. However, I will only be tell you a few. For example, you can buy lumber that is grown on plantations instead of harvested from the rainforest. A number of activist groups have also proposed putting “forest Management Standards” into effect that limit the number of trees that are allowed to be cut down and uses environmentally safe methods of cutting down trees. Statistics show that rainforests used for lumber, or cleared for cattle operations, earn the landowner $400 per acre, while rainforests used for harvesting their natural resources, such as nuts, fruits, oil-producing plants, and medicinal plants earn the land owner $ 2,400 per acre. So maybe, if we could show the landowners that they would make a better profit in using their natural resources, they would decide to stop cutting down the rainforests. If we stop deforestation, we can do our part to stop the negative effects of climate change.

The purpose of this is that deforestation is very dangerous. Deforestation can cause climate changes that negatively effect the enviornment. Together, we can do our part to stop deforestation!!

My resources for my project were: © http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm © http://www.umich.edu/%7Egs265/society/deforestation.htm © A Place Out of Time: Tropical Rainforests and the Perils They Face. http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0906.htm © EPA http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/difference.html