The Problem of Deforestation

What is deforestation? Deforstation is to divest or clear of forests or trees. Now day the
problem is very serious. Thousand and thousands of acres of lush rain forest are cleared each year
to make way for development. The once beautiful and spectacular forests are change to barren
landscapes... This is for the sake of development.
Yet, what happens when trees are cut down? First, the earth is left vulnerable to soil
erosion. The heavy tropical rain than we have in Malaysia will carry away the rich topsoil, and
the land that is left is no longer be fertile. Slowly this land will become wasteland.
Secondly, the water that flow down because of the rain not only washes away the topsoil
but will bring this topsoil to the rivers. What will happen is that the river will become shallower.
At it will make floods become more frequent in the area. Thousands of people will suffer because
of the floods and the Government has to spend a lot of money to give foods and shelter.
The main point is the forests are home to hundreds kind of flora and fauna. Animals and
plants live in symbiotic relationships in the balance of nature. The balance will destroy when men
flattens the forests to the ground. Then, what will happen to the habitats there? Where do they
go? Nowhere. They die. If this goes on, the food chain will be disrupted. Finally, man is
destroying his own sources of food through the damage of rain forest.
A shocking fact will hit us full force, when forests are a distant memory. People forget
that they are also cutting down their supply of oxygen while cutting down a tree to fulfill their
luxurious lifestyle.
The living creatures will breathe out the carbon dioxide that absorb from the trees,
reprocess it and in the end, produce the life-sustaining oxygen. Where will this oxygen come
from, without trees?
Furthermore, the extreme carbon dioxide will also effect a change in the micro-climate
and increase the region’s temperature. There will be a greenhouse effect on earth; warm air and
radiation will be trapped under the earth atmosphere. Then, as the earth’s temperature rises, the
ice in the polar caps will melt, raising the sea level. Great floods will hit the lower-lying areas.
It is called vicious cycle. It means that a change in our environment will trigger off
another change which will trigger off yet another. This is the main reason why we should keep
balance of nature and also protect our forests. This is why environmentalist groups are pressuring
governments to reduce the felling of trees and the clearing of forests and to be serious about
replanting forests.
The important thing is with the support of ordinary citizens, they will get the attention of
the people in power. We can also help by planting trees. Members of this beautiful planet must be
united. By preserving our forests, we are preserving ourselves.