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PW2e RW L4 U1 VideoScript

Forests play an essential role in supporting life on Earth by regulating the climate and providing habitat, but deforestation is clearing forests at an unsustainable rate and will eliminate rainforests within 100 years. Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change both by releasing stored carbon when trees are cut down and reducing the number of trees absorbing greenhouse gases. It also destroys habitats, diminishing biodiversity and threatening over 80% of plant and animal species as well as the livelihoods of over 2 billion people. The primary drivers of deforestation are agriculture, logging, and urban sprawl. While some damage from deforestation is irreversible, efforts to manage forests sustainably and replant trees can help reduce its environmental

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37 views1 page

PW2e RW L4 U1 VideoScript

Forests play an essential role in supporting life on Earth by regulating the climate and providing habitat, but deforestation is clearing forests at an unsustainable rate and will eliminate rainforests within 100 years. Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change both by releasing stored carbon when trees are cut down and reducing the number of trees absorbing greenhouse gases. It also destroys habitats, diminishing biodiversity and threatening over 80% of plant and animal species as well as the livelihoods of over 2 billion people. The primary drivers of deforestation are agriculture, logging, and urban sprawl. While some damage from deforestation is irreversible, efforts to manage forests sustainably and replant trees can help reduce its environmental

Uploaded by

Sarah Ling
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Unit 1 Trees of Life

Forests cover about 30 percent of the planet, and the ecosystems they create play an essential role in
supporting life on Earth. But deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, and at the current
rate of destruction, the world's rain forests could completely disappear within a hundred years. Why should
we care about deforestation?

Together, forestry and agriculture are responsible for 24 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, making
deforestation a significant contributor to climate change. Deforestation impacts the amount of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in two ways: First, when trees are felled, they release the carbon they
are storing into the atmosphere. Second, trees play a critical role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that
fuel global warming. Fewer forests mean larger amounts of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere
and increase speed and severity of global warming.

In addition to helping regulate the Earth's climate, forests provide habitats for over 80 percent of the plants
and animals that live on land. But deforestation destroys these habitats, diminishing biodiversity. Some
estimate that four to six thousand rain forest species go extinct each year. This also affects the more than
two billion people who rely on forests as sources of food and shelter.

The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers chop down trees in order to plant crops like
soybeans, palm trees, and cocoa, or to make room to raise livestock for beef. Logging operations, which
provide the world's wood and paper products, also cut countless trees each year. Forests are also
destroyed as a result of growing urban sprawl as land is developed for dwellings.

The effects of deforestation are grave but not irreversible. Efforts such as managing forest resources,
eliminating clear cutting, and planting new trees to replace those removed, are already being made to
reduce deforestation's environmental impact on our planet. And while some plant and animal species are
gone forever, combatting deforestation can help prevent further loss of biodiversity.

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