Effects of Deforestationby Dharmendra Kapri | 28-02-2017 04:26 |
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The effects of large scale deforestation are numerous and varied. Because of clearing forests: (i) Percolation and ground water recharge have decreased. (ii) Soil erosion has increased. (iii) Floods and droughts have become more frequent. (iv) consumption of CO2 and production of O2 are getting adversely affected. (v) Forest-dwelling species are becoming extinct, causing a loss of irreplaceable genetic resources. (vi) Landslides and avalanches are on the increase. (vii) Man has been deprived of the benefits of trees and woodland animals. (viii) Pattern of rainfall is changing. (ix) Climate has become warmer in the deforested region due to lack of humidity added by plants. (x) Economy and quality of life of weaker sections of the forest-dwelling people have deteriorated. Scarcity of fuel wood is the greatest problem of womenfolk in the hills. Shortage of fuel wood forces people burn animal dung, which would otherwise have been used to fertilize the soil. It has been estimated that burning dung reduces grain production by enough to feed 100 million people each year. Floods resulting from deforestation kill humans and animals and wash away soil from farmland every year. The flood water deposits this soil as the water slows down behind the irrigation and flood control dams. India spends about 250 million dollars each year merely to repair the immediate damage done by floods. The current massive clearing of tropical rain forests in developing countries to provide farm land for their rapidly increasing population may cause extinction of many species, some still not discovered by scientists. Loss of tropical forests will exterminate the migratory birds of cold countries as they spend the winter feeding in the tropics. Most tropical forest soil is not suitable for agriculture. It is thin and rain quickly washes its minerals away, and it becomes infertile within a few years.
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