Deforestation

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Deforestation
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Results by 2050

• Loss of 97 of the Earths old-growth forests
• Loss of 84 of the tropical rainforests (about 47
  million square kilometers)
• Extinction of more than 3 million species
• No original forests in Madagascar and Amazon
• 80 of the infertile soils.
• ATTENTION
• We are losing 137 plant, animal and insect
  species every single day due to rainforest
  deforestation, which equates to 50,000 species a
  year.

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Ecological impact

• Global warming
• 20 of world greenhouse gas emissions
• Up to 1/3 of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide
  emissions.

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Hydrologic impact
Dramatic alterations in the water cycle

• Erosion
• Flooding
• Landslides

Much drier climate

• DO YOU KNOW ?
• that tropical rainforests produce about 30
  (!!!) of our planets fresh water.

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Impact on human beings

• 25 of medicines comes from the forests
• Forest biotopes are irreplaceable source of new
  medicines (like taxol)
• They help to prolong the human race.

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Main causes

• Wood extraction
• Slash-and-burn farming
• Infrastructure expansion
• Cattle-raising
• Mining and oil exploitation
• Acid rains and fire.

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Who might have thought?

• 11 million acres have been cut for commercial and
  property industries annually
• McDonalds have been cutting 800 square miles of
  trees to make the amount of paper needed for a
  years supply of packaging
• 500,000 pairs of chopsticks have been produced a
  day.

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What should have been done?

• Stop leading that profligate way of life
• Use alternative materials
• Enact regulations of logging
• Invest in tree plantations
• Think about the future not the present.

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Thank you for attention!