Deforestation Approaching-03

Madagascar is not the only place in the world suffering from deforestation. In many parts of the world, deforestation is an ongoing problem. Forests are cut down so the land can be used for agriculture. It may be used for planting crops or creating pastoral land for grazing animals. The damage caused by this action can be far-reaching. This can include desertification, water resource degradation, habitat loss, and soil loss. In Madagascar, some estimates state that 80 or 90 percent of the old-growth forest has been lost. Almost 50 percent of this loss occurred in the past 60 years. The most current threats are in the forests in the southwest. They are being converted to agriculture at an alarming rate. The tropical forests in the northeast are being harvested for tropical hardwoods. “So what?” you might be wondering. “Why do we need to have forests?”

In many hot areas, like the Amazon, there would be much less rainfall if not for the forests. Forests also protect the soil by holding it in place and protecting it from the forces of erosion. Erosion is just one reason to protect forests. Perhaps the biggest reason has to do with the process of photosynthesis. When people inhale, we take oxygen into our lungs.

Oxygen is something our bodies need to survive. When we breathe, we take in the oxygen-rich air. We then exhale carbon dioxide gas as a waste product. Plants, however, take in carbon dioxide gas. They use carbon dioxide as part of the photosynthesis process. What happens next is almost magical in terms of Science.

Imagine you have an acorn that has fallen from a nearby oak tree. You bury it in the soil and makes sure it gets water and sunlight. You expect that it will grow into another huge oak tree, weighing nearly 20,000 pounds. Where does all that mass come from? The tiny acorn is many times smaller and less massive than the tree it grows into. What is the tree actually made of?

The magic happens in the leaves, which are essentially little factories that run on solar energy. The roots take in water and nutrients from the soil. These are carried to the leaves through the stem or trunk, which acts as a straw. The leaves absorb carbon dioxide gas from the surrounding air. Within the leaves, and powered by solar energy, a chemical reaction takes place. Through this process the plant gains its weight and mass.

This weight and mass doesn’t come from the nutrients a plant absorbs in soil. The law of conservation of mass tells us that parts of a whole equal the sum of the whole object. This means that if soil and nutrients were absorbed by the roots, then a giant hole would exist under the tree.