Progress

Today, I went to wikipedia.org and searched deforestation. The article was beneficial and gave an over view of the topic with statistics and facts.

I learned more about what deforestation is and what effects it has on the environment. I read that not only does it affect the greenhouse effect, but it causes soil erosion, landslides, and run-off. There are several causes for deforestation. They can range from slow forest degradation to sudden and catastrophic clear cutting, slash-and-burn, urban development, acid rain, and wildfires. It can even be caused by grazing animals.

I found several interesting statistic facts. The first fact I found that would be useful in my paper was that one fifth of the world’s tropical rainforest was destroyed between 1960 and 1990. According to Wikipedia, unless significant measures are taken on a world-wide basis to preserve the forests, by 2030 there will only be 10 percent of the forest remaining with another 10 percent in a degraded condition. 80 percent of the forest will have been lost and there would also be a loss of hundreds of thousands species. Wikipedia says that at the rate that deforestation is occurring, all tropical forests may be gone by 2090. I think that these statistics will help make my paper more persuasive.

This website was also useful because it talked about why deforestation could be a positive thing for a region (which would be the opposing side’s opinion). It says that developed and developing countries use the wood to build houses, make paper, and for heating and cooking. They rely on the wood for their economy to be successful.

I still have much more to research to do and I have other sources to read about deforestation, but I think that Wikipedia was a source to start from.