Question

Explain the following term:

Deforestation

Answer 1

Deforestation is the large-scale cutting, clearing, and permanent removal of forests or standing trees by people in order to repurpose the land for non-forest uses. This widespread damage is mostly caused by the extension of agricultural land, cattle grazing, urbanisation, infrastructural development, and commercial logging for lumber and fuel. Deforestation has serious ecological effects because it destroys natural ecosystems, resulting in huge biodiversity loss, faster soil erosion, disturbance of the global water cycle, and a rise in greenhouse gases, which exacerbates global warming.