Deforestation: Impact of Natural Calamities Research Paper

Abstract

Deforestation can be investigated and quantified at the environmental level as a land use change or the cumulative effect of multiple human activity changes. However, the pressures, agents, and relationships that drive deforestation create a complicated network that is dynamically changing throughout time¹. Therefore, the factors influencing deforestation can be triggered by either human activities or purely environmental factors². The rationale that human activities, such as clearing land for agriculture and industrialization, are the sole cause of deforestation is biased, considering that some factors, including natural calamities, can be justified as direct causes of deforestation.

Deforestation is a significant challenge in promoting a sustainable ecosystem, considering it reduces the quality of nature, human life, and well-being. Deforestation causes habitat destruction and biodiversity degradation since trees are cut down without much regeneration. Additionally, it lowers living standards due to increased wood consumption for industrial and fuel purposes³. Various works of literature have established that human activities, including cutting down trees for domestic use and clearing the land for industrialization, promote deforestation⁴. However, little is known about natural disasters’ influence on promoting deforestation⁵. For instance, the effects of forest fire, acid rain, storms, and flooding have not been extensively addressed. Through qualitative research on research findings, this study reveals how natural storms, forest fires, acid rains, and flooding cause deforestation.

Research Questions

• What is the effect of natural storms on rainforests?
• How forest fire affects sustainable rainforests?
• How do acid rain and flooding cause deforestation?
• What are some of the natural calamities that destroy rainforests?

Objectives

The main goal of this study is to establish a new concept explaining the influence of natural calamities on deforestation. This idea will single out the human activity as the leading cause of deforestation. The study will also provide evidence on how natural disasters derail efforts in reforestation.

Literature Review

Human activities have been cited as the primary cause of deforestation. The conversion of forest land to tropical agriculture is one cause of deforestation, considering that the activity results in permanent forest damage⁶. This human activity has depleted rainforests due to the need for constant demand for agricultural produce. When rainforests are cleared for agricultural activities, none of the trees harvested is replanted, reducing available trees.

Another human activity influencing deforestation is making rainforest lands available for housing and urbanization practices. The development of infrastructure and industries has accelerated deforestation, considering that more trees are cut down to create land for urbanization⁷. All these factors indicate that human activities have significantly affected the sustainability of rainforests, accelerating deforestation.

One pertinent issue supporting the dominance in deforestation includes the burning of land, whereby some trees are burned to maintain the health of the rainforest. Sometimes, the need for land for cultivation or industrial purposes could lead to uncontrolled burning, resulting in deforestation⁸. All these factors indicate that human activities have detrimental effects on the sustainability of rainforests. Most of these researchers have dwelt on the direct causes of deforestation, sidelining other indirect effects such as natural disasters.

Methodology

The research methods will include qualitative research strategies, including questionnaires and literature review since both will explain how the different variables interrelate to provide a specific result. The study will identify the dependent and independent variables using the results obtained from the survey and literature. This strategy will ensure that classification of the different variables and how they influence one another is done with zero constraints. The sample population for this study will be adults between the ages of 30-45 years. These indigenous people residing within the rainforests or working with forest protection organizations and those concerned about climate change will be important to the study. These volunteers will fill in the questionnaire, which will be analyzed using the summary of the major trends. The sample size is 100 human participants from diverse backgrounds or expertise in rainforest conservation. The study will be conducted for 30 days to ensure that the data collected is convincing enough to justify an argument.

Some materials needed for analyzing questionnaire results include score sheet templates and data analysis tools such as Microsoft Excel, which will help analyze the different trends identified so that an objective result can be tabulated.

Limitations- The small sample size in this research could result from a lack of sufficient evidence to support the issue of deforestation or direct influences. Another significant factor is a restricted timeline, considering deforestation is a global researchable phenomenon.

Results

This research aims to highlight how natural calamities influence deforestation through rainforest destruction. Through qualitative research designs, the study will analyze some of the existing literature and analysis of the questionnaire results to determine the effects of natural disasters such as flooding and the destruction of trees. All these data findings will be analyzed and tabulated to show how each of the mentioned variables affects the sustainability of rainforests.

Bibliography

Bergquist, Scott. “Deforestation and Urbanization in the U.S.” Web.

Franco-Solís, Alberto, and Claudia Montanía. “Dynamics of Deforestation Worldwide: A Structural Decomposition Analysis of Agricultural Land Use in South America.” Land Use Policy, no. 109 (2021): 105619. Web.

Ortiz, Diana I., Marta Piche-Ovares, Luis M. Romero-Vega, Joseph Wagman, and Adriana Troyo. “The Impact of Deforestation, Urbanization, and Changing Land Use Patterns on the Ecology of Mosquito and Tick-Borne Diseases in Central America.” Insects 13 no. 1 (2021): 20. Web.

Footnotes

1. Alberto Franco-Solís, and Montania Claudia, “Dynamics of deforestation worldwide: A structural decomposition analysis of agricultural land use in South America.” Land Use Policy, no 109 (2021): 105619.
2. Alberto and Montanía, “Dynamics of deforestation worldwide” 105619.
3. Alberto and Montanía, 105619.
4. Scott Bergquist, “Deforestation and Urbanization in the US.” Web.
5. Diana Ortiz et al., “The Impact of Deforestation, Urbanization, and Changing Land Use Patterns on the Ecology of Mosquito and Tick-Borne Diseases in Central America.” Insects 13 no.1 (2021): 20. Web.
6. Alberto and Montanía. 105619.
7. Diana et al., “Impact of Deforestation.” 20.
8. Scott, “Deforestation and Urbanization in the US.”