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Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. [1] Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests at present. [2]
Forest cover in the Eastern United States reached its lowest point in roughly 1872 with about 48 percent compared to the amount of forest cover in 1620. The majority of deforestation took place prior to 1910 with the Forest Service reporting the minimum forestation as 721,000,000 acres (2,920,000 km 2) around 1920. [2]
By 2008, deforestation in Africa was estimated to be occurring at twice the world average rate, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). [5] [6] [7] Some sources claim that deforestation has already wiped out roughly 90% of West Africa's original forests.
Forests in the United States can be categorized into three main forest biomes, they are boreal, temperate, or sub-tropical based on the location and climate of the forest. Each of these biomes faces various threats of deforestation , urban development, [ 2 ] soil compaction , species extinction, unmanaged recreational use, invasive species , or ...
Forest cover in the Eastern United States reached its lowest point in roughly 1872 with about 48 percent compared to the amount of forest cover in 1620. The majority of deforestation took place prior to 1910 with the Forest Service reporting the minimum forestation as 721,000,000 acres (2,920,000 km 2) around 1920. [8]
Statistics have shown that there is a direct correlation between forest fires and deforestation. Statistics regarding the Brazilian Amazon area during the early 2000s have shown that fires and the air pollution that accompanies these fires mirror the patterns of deforestation and "high deforestation rates led to frequent fires". [37]
The assessment showed that although the rate of deforestation has slowed, the world's forest area continues to decrease. [16] Key findings include: The world has a total forest area of 4.06 billion hectares (ha), which is 31 percent of the total land area. The world's forest area is decreasing, but the rate of loss has declined since 1990.
Deforestation in the Maranhão state, Brazil, in July 2016. The Amazon rainforest, spanning an area of 3,000,000 km 2 (1,200,000 sq mi), is the world's largest rainforest.It encompasses the largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest on the planet, representing over half of all rainforests.