The impact of deforestation

Deforestation is the removal of trees, often as a result of human activities. It is often cited as one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect. Trees remove carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere during the process of photosynthesis. Both the rotting and burning of wood releases this stored carbon carbon dioxide back in to the atmosphere.
Pressure has been exerted on forests by the worldwide demand for wood and by local people who clear forests in their quests to establish an agrarian land base. Clearing of forests for the development of pasture for cattle has also resulted in deforestation as has the encroachment upon forests due to increasing human populations.
Deforestation promotes erosion of soil. Under normal circumstances trees and bushes and the forest floor act as a 'sponge' for rainfall, slowing its' overland and underground flow and releasing it back into the atmosphere through transpiration. Without the buffering effect of forest cover, rain impacting bare soil runs off, often causing flooding. In this environment, nutrients in the soil are leached off and the microorganisms which can replenish these nutrients are disturbed. Forests are rich in biological diversity. Deforestation causes the destruction of the habitats that support biological diversity.
Forests store large amounts of CO2, buffering the CO2 in the atmosphere. The carbon retained in the Amazon basin is equivalent to at least 20% of the entire atmospheric CO2. Destruction of the forests would release about four fifths of the CO2 to the atmosphere. Half of the CO2 would dissolve in the oceans but the other half would be added to the 16% increase already observed this century, accelerating world temperature increases. Another impact of tropical rainforest destruction would be to reduce the natural production of nitrous oxide (NO). Tropical forests and their soils produce up to one half of the world's NO which helps to destroy stratospheric ozone. Any increase in stratospheric ozone would warm the stratosphere but lower global surface temperatures.

Flora and Fauna in rainforest.

More than half of the world's species of plants and animals are found in the rainforest. Rainforests support a very broad array of fauna including mammals, reptiles, birds, and invertebrates. Mammals may include primates, felids, and other families. Reptiles include snakes, turtles, chameleons, and other families while birds include such families as vangidae and Cuculidae. Dozens of families of invertebrates are found in rainforests. Fungi are also very common in rainforest areas as they can feed on the decomposing remains of plant and animal life. These species are rapidly disappearing due to deforestatio, habitat loss, and biochemical releases into the atmosphere.

Rainforests

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches). The monsoon trough, alternately known as the intertropical convergence zone, plays a significant role in creating Earth's tropical rain forests. From 40 to 75% of all species on Earth are indigenous to the rainforests. It has been estimated that many millions of species of plants, insects, and microorganisms are still undiscovered. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth", and the "world's largest pharmacy", because of the large number of natural medicines discovered there. Rainforests are also responsible for 28% of the worlds oxygen turn over, often misunderstood as oxygen production, processing it through photosynthesis from carbon dioxide and through breathing to carbon dioxide. The undergrowth in a rainforest is restricted in many areas by the lack of sunlight at ground level. This makes it possible to walk through the forest. If the leaf canopy is destroyed or thinned, the ground beneath is soon colonized by a dense, tangled growth of vines, shrubs, and small trees called a jungle. There are two types of rainforest, tropical rainforest and temperate rainforest.