Devastating facts about deforestation

.Devastating Facts of Deforestation "Deforestation comes in many forms, including fires, clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching and development, unsustainable logging for timber, and degradation due to climate change." [source: World Wildlife Foundation) Deforestation Cause Breakdown: Subsistence farming 48% of deforestation Commercial agriculture 32% of deforestation Logging 15% of deforestation Fuel wood removals 5% of deforestation Forests are essential to life on Earth: V Cover 30% of the land area on our planet V Provide shelter for countless species of plants + wildlife V Produce vital oxygen : While tropical forests only cover 7% of the Earth's land mass, they are home to more than 50% of the world's 10-50 million plant + animal species. :: << In addition, forests help maintain the climate by: >> Regulating Atmospheric gases Stabilizing Rainfall Protecting Against Desertification [source: Mongabay.com) 1.6 billion people directly rely on the benefits of forests, which include: food fresh water dlothing traditional medicine shelter ...HOWEVER... deforestation has continued at an alarming rate since the early 1950s: "Globally, around 13 million hectares of forests were converted to other uses, or lost through natural causes each year between 2000-2010." [source: Wikipedia] The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has had adverse impacts on bio-sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, along with damage to: biodiversity loss habitat aridity ...Deforestation Facts... the planet was originally decorated with 1.5 to 1.6 billion hectares of forest. 46-58 million square miles of forest are lost each year equivalent to 36 football fields every minute 80,000 acres of forests disappear + 80,000 acres are degraded from Earth each day 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions are the result of deforestation :: Top 10 Most Endangered Forests :: Region Asia-Pacific South America North America Africa Indo Burma New Caledonia Sundaland Phillippines Attantic Forest Mountains of Southwest China California Floristic Province Coastal Forests Africa Madagascar & Indian Ocean Island Eastern Afromontane 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 11% -Remaining Habitat Care to spread your eco-friendly knowledge? Start by sharing this infographic. Brought to you by: DistanceLearning Sources: Image Sources: http://www.statisticbrain.com/tree-deforestation-statistics/ http://worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0801.htm http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/-sustain/issueguides/TimberCert/fores tfunc.html "Kepler 20f Planet Stock Image" By Victor Habbick/ freedigitalphotos.net "Tree With Oxygen Stock Image" By fotographic1980/ freedigitalphotos.net "Raining Stock Image" By khuruzero /.freedigitalphotos.net "Hand With Small Plant On Dry Land Stock Photo" By TeddyBear[Picnic]/ freedigitalphotos.net "Medicine In Hand Stock Photo" By TeddyBear[Picnic)/ freedigitalphotos.net "Attractive Young Woman Holding An Umbrella Stock Photo" By stockim- ages /freedigitalphotos.net "Vehicle Around Earth Stock Image" By Sujin Jetkasettakorn/ freedigitalphotos.net "Desiccated Planet Earth Stock Image" By Vlado/ freedigitalphotos.net "Hot Pizza Stock Image" By digitalart/ freedigitalphotos.net I Shirts With Tags Stock Image" By emptyglass/ freedigitalphotos.net http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_forests/deforest ation/ http://www.howtoprevent.com/enviroment/how-to-prevent- deforestation/