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Urbanisation has been considered a long-standing enemy of forests. The population is growing at a rapid pace and the boundary of the cities are expanding and this is the reason why the requirement of land is increasing at a rapid pace leading to the clearing of forests. Urban population growth and industrialisation have been crucial in this regard. This discussion is very relevant as the world is standing on the brink of climate change and deforestation alongside urbanisation is leading to major greenhouse gas emission such as Co2, that is again leading to rising in temperature that is contributing to global warming (Van Vuuren et al ., 2011). The discussion is also poignant as deforestation is leading to loss of natural habitat for animals that is abundant in Australia. Although the development of urban civilisation adds to the economic betterment of a nation, yet the rate of deforestation is leading to major problems like decreased oxygen, increased greenhouse gases, loss of animal habitat and the destruction of flora and fauna. This deprives Australia of its rich biodiversity. The points that shall be addressed in this essay to support the thesis statement will be as follows:
- Urban growth fuelling land needs a major cause of deforestation due to population growth
- Immediate monetary benefits that human draw from deforestation
- Effectiveness of Laws to protect the forests
- Toxicological effect of deforestation
- Effect of deforestation and urbanisation combined on climate change
The reason why the deforestation issue has to be handled in a major way is associated with the fact that the entire process of deforestation has the issue of giving rise to a cyclical effect that will lead to additional problems. Deforestation leads to lack of forest cover to produce oxygen and urbanisation leads to more and greener house emissions and together this has a compounding effect on climate change.
Urban growth fuelling land needs a major cause of deforestation due to population growth. There is more need for accommodation and infrastructural growth. The need for roads and homes has become so important that the forest cover is depleting at a rapid rate. International bodies have started to put forward projections of population growth for the future and it is projecting a very serious situation for the future.
The concept of cities with nature has become very popular in Australia leading to deforestation of natural forests and that being replaced by a minuscule amount of greenery as is seen in the urban areas of Australia.
In order to ensure that there is urban planning, there is a tremendous loss to natural habitats of animals and more and more species are currently threatened by the rising trend to convert most land to urban space with bare minimum greenery. Urban growth has been seen as the major reason for the reduction of birds in Brisbane. Most of the cities in Australia have developed in areas that are also rich in biodiversity and it has been seen that due to more and more urbanisation expansion many animals and plant life are threatened due to massive deforestation. Deforestation leads to lack of forest cover to produce oxygen and urbanisation leads to more and greener house emissions and together this has a compounding effect on climate change and the fires have a major impact as well (Bradstock, 2010).
Urban growth has to be done with a focus on sustainable growth and native trees should be allowed to remain in the area to ensure that biodiversity is not completely destroyed and this is observed majorly in the hosting of native trees in Canberra (soe.environment.gov.au 2019). Effective urban planning is the major area of improvement that needs to be practised as projected in the picture below:
Immediate monetary benefits that human draw from deforestation are also associated with industrial needs that are associated with getting timber and wood. Urbanisation comes with industrialisation in order to gain economic benefits and ensure that forest-based industries grow in a massive way. Timber and agriculture associated with industrialised food production are crucial in this respect. The use of pulp is another major problem that is boosting industries and killing the forests.
Effectiveness of Laws to protect the forests causes more and more loss of natural habitat for the animal species. The east coast of Australia is known as the deforestation front . Deforestation from 1970 has wiped out 60% of the natural animals whose habitats are now lost. Koala bears have been majorly affected because of this and it is projected that they will completely disappear from the New South Wales and adjoining area by 2050 (theguardian.com 2019). The Queensland government is trying to make specific changes in the application of the law to reduce incidences of deforestation.
The Kyoto protocol has not been very clear about deforestation (fao.org2019). There is a need to implement laws that will ensure that sustainable activities have to be inculcated in the process. The protocol talks about clean energy, but the massive problem of deforestation remains unaddressed in a major way. The Australian government and the state and territory governments have all signed the 1992 National Forest Policy Statement, where there are plans laid out to address the issue of deforestation in a major way.
Protection of forests has been one of the top priorities of all the elected governments. There is a lot of effort taken to stop illegal logging and any kind of burning down of forest cover. However, there is very little effort taken to address the deforestation that is being caused by urbanisation and due to agricultural produce, which is a major export area for the Australian government. The industrial cleaning is also not concentrated upon and this leads to more and more deforestation in the name of economic development.
Regional forestry hubs are now being developed that will ensure that managing the forests deforestation issue will be less of a problem. Large tracts of lands are now marked as government property and fenced off and there is also private ownership given to indigenous tribes that are involved in ensuring that the land and the forest cover are protected along with the natural habitat of the flora and the fauna.
Toxicological effect of deforestation has been immense. The forests are known to purify our air and as they are natural, watersheds that improve the quality of the soil. The vegetation of the earth soaks up the greenhouse gases and that ensures that the entire world is protected from heat waves and climate change effect. Around 7500 Gigatonnes of CO2 are soaked by the forest and deforestation has a double toxicological impact (Archana, 2013). There is no soaking up of the greenhouse gases and due to burning and cutting down of forest for urbanisation there is the problem associated with generating of more CO2. The forest land on deforestation are often turned to wasteland and landfills and that leads to major soil contamination and soil erosion is directly caused by deforestation. Industrialisation on forestland leads to the toxicology of the soil and that is because poor waste management in urban and industrial areas make the soil more toxic (Mishra, Mohammad & Roychoudhury, 2015). There is another major way that deforestation is contributing to more toxic soil and air condition. The acid rains are directly contamination the soil quality and the poisoning the groundwater. There acid rain and the ways that the greenhouse gases are allowed to increase is leading to major issues associated with major harm (Ashraf., Maah & Yusoff, 2014).
Deforestation leads to such huge issues associated with the immense growth of pollutant gases that when it rains it leads to reactions that lead to oxides of nitrogen reacting with the rainwater in order to form nitric acid. Similarly, there are sulphur pollutants that are direct by-products of urbanisation also lead to the formation of sulphurous acids S+O2 ’ SO2, N2+O2 ’ 2NO that are causing major acid rain (Gaddamwar, 2011). Acidic rain is one of the major reasons for increasing the toxicity of the planet.
Effect of deforestation and urbanisation combined on climate change is very severe. Forest degradation is Australia and the urbanisation and its industrialisation has started to degrade the Australian land from the colonisation times. The coastal periphery of this country is rich in forest cover and this is the area that has been heavily populated and the urbanisation drive has led to massive deforestation. The country has already lost 40% of its forest and Queensland and Northern south Wales has been affected majorly (Bradshaw, 2012).
It has been observed that most have got cleared and there has been human settlement all over. The South Australian part has also been majorly cleared in the beginning of the 20th Century with most of the animal and indigenous tribes having to leave the area in search of greener pastures.
In the esteemed opinion of Deo, (2011), there is a link between the native forests and the temperature of the climate of Australia. The land has a naturally variable climate. There are harsh arid areas and there are lush vegetation in some parts and the urbanisation drive that is leading to massive deforestation is making the land and its surface temperature hotter and hotter. There is also a reduction of rainfall and there is a major problem that is associated with the act that clearance of more and more land is killing the flora and fauna for which this land is most famous. The growing population is causing major issues associated with the fact that it is causing irreparable damage that can never be handled if more delay is done. There is also the major issue that is associated with the high air pollution that is caused by urbanisation and it is leading to increased rates of mortality in the region. There are bush fires and that leads to soil erosion that ultimately leads to the development of dust storms thus causing lung infections and increased rate of mortality and the causes of all of these are associated with urbanisation and land acquiring through deforestation at a massive level (Johnston et al., 2011). In the opinion of Lawes, Richards, Dathe, (2011), there is also a change in the flora as there are increased changes in the temperature there are trees that are growing that are fire-prone and this is seen in northern Australian Savannah region.
It can be concluded that there is the need to address the issue of deforestation most urgently in order to protect the natural habitat of the animals and the indigenous people of the smallest continent. The reason for this is that, with more and more deforestation and increased in urbanisation projects the entire country is losing its rich biodiversity. This essay clearly points out that in the name of economic development and urbanisation there are many issues that are being neglected. This is associated with the fact that there is loss of the balanced environment and natural habitat of animals, indigenous population and plants and in order to protect the world from severe climate issues it is important that Australia give full effort towards reducing deforestation. It is only through the efforts to stop deforestation it will be possible to ensure that there is an ecological balance that can be restored and that is the reason why it is essential that more laws are passed that will ensure that there are stricter actions taken to protect the rich biodiversity of the country. It is extremely important that the cyclical impact of deforestation and climate change is realised and the compounding negative impact of mindless unplanned urbanisation is stopped that will ensure that Australia will become land rich in flora, fauna and economic prosperity as well.
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