Deforestation

Deforestation.
2.5 Seconds series.
.
Forests cover more than 30% of the Earth's land surface. They help people thrive and survive by, for example, purifying water and air. Three-quarters of the Earth’s freshwater comes from forested watersheds. Many animals also rely on forests. They are home to 80% of terrestrial biodiversity. Forests also play a critical role in mitigating climate change because they absorb carbon dioxide produced by human activity that would otherwise be free in the atmosphere and contribute to ongoing changes of climate.
But forests around the world are under threat in the form of deforestation and forest degradation. The main cause of those are agriculture and grazing of livestock, mining and drilling, illegal logging and wildfires.
Today, most deforestation is happening in the tropics. Amazon lost around 17% of the forest in the last 50 years, mostly due to forest conversion for cattle ranching. In the past 25 years, forests shrank by 1.3 million sq km — an area bigger than the size of South Africa. The tropics lost about 158,000 sq km of forest in 2017 — an area the size of Bangladesh.
Just 4 commodities are responsible for tropical deforestation: beef, soy, palm oil and wood products. Human-lit fires are commonly used to clear land for agricultural use. First, valuable timber is harvested, then the remaining vegetation is burned to make way for crops like soy or cattle grazing. Many forests are cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. Palm oil is the most commonly produced vegetable oil and is found in half of all supermarket products. It's cheap, versatile and can be added to both food and personal products like lipsticks and shampoo.
As climate change continues, trees play an important role in the capture and storage of excess carbon dioxide. Tropical trees alone are estimated to provide about 23% that's needed to offset climate change. But the act of clearing the forests also produces greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation is the second-leading cause of climate change. In fact, it accounts for nearly 20% of greenhouse gas emissions.
.
Behind the scenes
youtu.be/yK6_EAHDwQw
.
Follow me on social media:
♡ Website   -  anya-anti.com
♡ Facebook -  www.facebook.com/AnyaAntiArt
♡ Instagram - www.instagram.com/anya_anti_art