GC: n

CT: Deforestation is clearing Earth’s forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but swathes the size of Panama are lost each and every year.

S: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/ (last access: 26 August 2014)

N: 1. 1884, from deforest + -ation. Earlier was deforesting (1530s) which was a legal term for the change in definition of a parcel of land from “forest” to something else.
2. Deforestation, Central America: the clearing or thinning of forests, the cause of which is normally implied to be human activity. As such, deforestation represents one of the largest issues in global land use in the early 21st century. Estimates of deforestation are traditionally based on the area of forest cleared for human use, including removal of the trees for wood products and for croplands and grazing lands. In the practice of clear-cutting, all the trees are removed from the land, which completely destroys the forest.
3. Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. Seventy percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes.
4. Deforestation also drives climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the atmosphere. Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can quickly become barren deserts.

S: 1. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=deforestation (last access: 26 August 2014). 2. EncBrit. 3 & 4. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/ (last access: 26 August 2014).

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CR: biome, [deforest area], environment, erosion, eruption, land clearing, [reforestation].