A. Problem Thesis Statement: I believe there is a problem with deforestation. B. Overview: Today I will discuss how many trees forests lose a year, the causes and effects of deforestation, and how it affects you. Body – Showing the Need: The size of forests are diminishing globally. This is starting to become serious issue, and the extent of its seriousness will increase in the future if this rate of deforestation continues. A. Evidence: (Facts) 1. According to understory. ran. org, primary forest area is reduced globally by 60,000 square kilometers per year, which is approximately the size of Ireland. Due to lack of information from other countries because such change is unmonitored by them, it is impossible to receive completely accurate data. However, it is estimated that a sum of 3 to 6 billion trees are cut down a year globally. 2. According to this bar graph found on news. mongabay. com, the loss of forests in the Brazalian Amazon in 2009 was about 300,000 hectares; in 2010, about 210,000 hectares; and in 2011, up to about 900,000 hectares.
Now that I have established the issue of the deforestation and its facts, the next point I would like to discuss are the causes and effects of deforestation. 3. According to the article “Deforestation: Facts, Causes, & Effects” by Jessie Szalay, the main causes of deforestation are to make more land available for housing and urbanization, timber, cash crops, and cattle ranching. Also, the common methods used to clear parts of forests are burning and clear cutting trees.
Farmers cut and burn patches of trees, then grow crops on the land until the soil becomes too degraded from overgrazing and sun exposure for new growth. When this happens to the soil, farmers move on to a new patch of land and repeat their process which results in a continuous action of clearing more and more trees from forests. In addition, there are several effects of deforestation. First off, seventy percent of the world’s plants and animals live in forests and are losing their habitats to deforestation which can lead to species extinction.
Second, forests help absorb greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions that are caused by human civilization which contribute to global climate change and without trees more carbon and greenhouse gasses enter the atmosphere. Finally, trees play an important role in the water cycle, grounding the water in their roots and releasing it into the atmosphere. In the Amazon, more than half the water in the ecosystem is held within trees III. IV. V. so without the trees the climate will become dryer. Speaking of the causes and effects this brings us to how deforestation affects you. 4. Deforestation is an affect to human survival. It provides a habitat for medical conservation, and the biotopes of the forests are an irreplaceable source of new drugs. Also, the loss of species decreases bio diversity which we need on earth to regulate food chains. In addition, carbon is being trapped in our atmosphere and that contributes to extreme climate change and frequency of natural disasters that pose a threat to our lives. trees are a major part of the water cycle and without water we would not be able to survive. B.
Meeting Objections: However, some people may support deforestation because trees provide the world with paper which can be used for multiple useful purposes in our daily lives. Well my response to this is there is an alternative for the production of paper through recycled products so trees should have to be the main source of paper. Satisfying the Need: Presenting the Solution A. Solution Thesis Statement: The solution to the problem is fairly simple. Companies and markets are one of the biggest drivers of deforestation and they can reduce deforestation rates by introducing zero-deforestation policies. B.
Explain Companies can make an impact through zero-deforestation policies that require suppliers to produce forests commodities such as timber and paper fiber in a way that has a minimal impact on natural forests and the climate. C. It Has Worked! In fact according to the article “Kimberly-Clark and Greenpeace agree to historic measures to protect forests”, the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, world’s largest tissue-product manufacturer, announced an historic agreement that will ensure greater protection of forests. The agreement stated that “The Kimberly-Clark Corporation will no longer be purchasing pulp from the three million hectare (7. million acre) Kenogami and Ogoki Forests in northern Ontario unless strict ecological criteria are met” The corporation stopped buying more than 325,000 tons of pulp a year from logging operations and instead uses recycled fiber as their main source for tissue making. D. Meeting Objections: I am sure that many people will object to this because their may not be enough recycled products to convert into paper, but in my defense if everyone recycles their will be enough recycled products and the the KimberlyClark Corporation proved that this is possible and can make a difference.
Visualizing the Results: I envision a future that will use resources more efficiently to lower the need for destroying our forests. Conclusion – Call for Action! A. As a call for action everyone here can in way make up for all the lost trees through deforestation by contributing to help increase the number of trees on our planet by planting a tree through the Trees For The Future organization.
To do this you first go on to their website which is treesforthefuture. org, and on the homepage you will see a button that says “donate now”. There you can donate a minimum of 10 cents, which plants one tree, to a maximum of 500 dollars, which plants 5,000 trees. B. As Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people”.