Deforestation has become a serious problem in the past few decades. Forests around the world have been destroyed due to increased demands for lumber supply, as well as many other resources. Many people don’t know how important forests are to the ecosystem, however. Forests “help people thrive and survive by, for example, purifying water and air” as well as by “soaking up carbon dioxide” (worldwildlife.org). Recently, more attention has been placed on forests because of the raging wildfires that we saw in the Amazon rainforest as well as in Australia. It is essential that we maintain the integrity of our rainforests because it is the habitat for millions of animals, as well as a supplier of jobs for millions of people. Unfortunately “in the Amazon, around 17% of the forest has been lost in the last 50 years” (Worldwildlife.org). If this continues, a vital part of our ecosystem will be destroyed in the next centuries. When we talk about the huge amount of land that is being destroyed, many people have a difficult time visualizing exactly how much it is. To put it into perspective, “In 2019, the tropics lost close to 30 soccer fields’ worth of trees every single minute” (Worldwildlife.org). This is an incredibly large amount of land. By saving the forests, we are really saving ourselves. We need to put more emphasis on the conservation of resources and realize that although the earth is tenacious, we may do damage that is not reversible.
Works Cited:
https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation#:~:text=Deforestation%20is%20a%20particular%20concern,forest%20conversion%20for%20cattle%20ranching.
