“FORESTS ARE THE WORLDS AIR- CONDITIONING SYSTEM, THE LUNGS OF THE PLANET AND WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF SWITCHING IT OFF”.

Deforestation is cleaning Earth forests on a massive scale, resulting in damages to the quality of the land and our overall environment. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world however swaths of area, roughly the size of Panama, is lost each and every year due to deforestation. According to research, deforestation is the first connection in a chain of environmental degradation hazards.

Deforestation affect the climate in more than one ways. Trees release essential oxygen gas into our environment. They provide the required shade that keeps the soil moist. They keep the land intact and protects it from erosion. However, the incessant cutting forests without making up for the lost trees is a direct threat to our environment. Several species are finding it difficult to survive or adapt to new habitats.

Forests are natural habitats for different animals. And with the destruction of these forests, we endanger all those species. They lose their habitat and are forced to move to new location. Some of them are even pushed to extinction as they find it hard to survive with their natural habitat taken away from them. Our world has lost so many species of plants and animals in last couple of decades.

Trees play a major role in controlling global warming. The trees utilize the greenhouse gases, restoring the balance in the atmosphere. With constant deforestation, the ratio of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased, adding to our global warming woes.

Forests play an important role in our environment. They have to be preserved come what may. Clear cutting of forests must be banned. No one should be allowed to cut trees. Or, if it must be allowed, it should be ensured that at least ten trees are planted before cutting a single tree.