Geography, Human Impact & Environment: Deforestation, Ecosystems Study

This essay explores the interrelationship between four key environmental concepts: deforestation, ecosystems, agriculture, and the atmosphere, and their impacts on human life. It discusses how deforestation affects ecosystems by reducing biodiversity and altering habitats, and how it contributes to climate change through the release of greenhouse gases. The essay also examines the role of agriculture as both a driver of deforestation and a potential solution through sustainable practices like agroforestry and organic farming. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of understanding these complex relationships to mitigate climate change, protect vulnerable ecosystems, and promote human well-being through responsible environmental management and conservation efforts, suggesting reforestation as a key strategy.

Running Head: GEOGRAPHY AND HUMAN 1
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GEOGRAPHY AND HUMAN 2
Geography and Human
Introduction
This project review concerns four key concepts from the course, their interrelationship
and how they impact human life. The four chosen concepts are deforestation, ecosystem,
agriculture and the atmosphere.
Atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding a planet that is suspended by the gravity. It is
composed of four layers, troposphere being the lowest layer expanding from the Earth’s surface
to about 30 miles high. Most of Earth’s weather occur in the troposphere. Stratosphere is just
above the troposphere and this is where we find ozone layer that blocks ultraviolet rays. After
stratosphere there is mesosphere, thermosphere and then ionosphere. The Earth’s atmosphere
also houses various types of lighting, clouds and auroras. An ecosystem is a topographic part of
the earth where animals, plants, landscape and weather combine together to form life. It is
composed of living and non-living things which directly or indirectly depend on each other.
Agriculture is a process of food production, fuel, feed, fiber and some other products by routine
raising of animals and plants. Human beings have been obtaining food from agriculture since the
early ages. Deforestation is a lasting cutting of trees in a forest so as to clear the land and make it
available to be utilized in agriculture or for urban development. About 18 million acres of forest
is cleared annually to avail land for other uses (Yohannes, 2016).
Interrelationship between Deforestation, Ecosystem, Agriculture and Atmosphere, and
their impacts on Human Life.
There have been worldwide campaigns against mass destruction of trees so as to reduce the
rate of climate change and preserve wildlife. Trees are very important features in the ecosystem
because of various reasons which include absorption of carbon dioxide which we exhale and
trapping of gases from the greenhouses due to human activities. Deforestation interferes with
ecosystem and lead to devastating outcomes on global level. Since various species eat specific
foods and reside in different types of habitats, varying set of vegetation can enhance a wider
variety of animals to live in an area (Alina, 2018).
When deforestation is carried out to create space for large plantations for growing a specific
crop such as sugarcane, the diversity of wildlife plummets due to displacement of species. In as
much as deforestation affects forests it also has an effect on immediate surroundings and
atmosphere which spreads all through to the biosphere, ecosystems and all its constituents.

GEOGRAPHY AND HUMAN 3
Deforestation may indirectly lead to spreading of diseases such as avian flu and malaria which
originates from birds and insects respectively when they migrate due to climate change.
Subsistence farming as well as intensive farming are the major causes of deforestation in tropical
and subtropical countries especially where farming of palm oil, soy and cattle ranching are done
(Scott, 2017).
Converting forests to areas of intensive agriculture have rampant impacts on the health of
forests. Monoculture farming easily exhausts the top thin layer of nutrients in tropical soils.
Runoff originating from agricultural land usually lead to water pollution which may later
interfere with lives of water animals. Agricultural greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide,
carbon dioxide and methane when emitted to the atmosphere affect climate negatively.
Agriculture could also be a remedy to climate change through adoption of adaptation actions and
mitigation processes which could be best enhanced through good management practices such as
agroforestry practices, organic farming and proper manure management (Pratap & Jaweriah,
2019).
Conclusion
Studying deforestation, agriculture, atmosphere and ecosystem is significant because they
are the main factors that affect day to day life of human being. There is need to improve
understanding of the effects of climate change and impacts of enhanced carbon dioxide on
ecosystem services and biodiversity, this could be enhanced by facilitating capacity for
connecting models of physical change in the climate system to species response models. There is
also need to study ecosystems, ecosystem services, species complexes and people who rely on
them that are most vulnerable. Proper management of forests, agricultural systems and
grasslands meet multiple goals which include water shed protection, carbon storage and
conservation of biodiversity. This controls the extent of climate change. Research shows that
deforestation negatively influence agriculture, atmosphere and ecosystem therefore developing
ways of countering deforestation such as reforestation help in regenerating wildlife habitats,
redeveloping the ecosystem services given by forests constituting water cycling and carbon
storage and also reducing the carbon dioxide build up in the atmosphere (Natalia & Josep,
2019).Through this, a conducive environment for human survival and good health is enhanced.

GEOGRAPHY AND HUMAN 4
References
Alina, B. (2018). Deforestation: Facts, Causes and Effects. Retrieved from LIVESCIENCE:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html
Graeme, L., Brian, H., & Mark, R. (2016). The Super Greenhouse Effect ina Changing Climate.
American Metrological Society, 29(15), 5469-5482.
Natalia, R.-R., & Josep, D. (2019). Ecological Infrastructures Across Mediterranenan
Agroecosystems: Towards an Effective Tool for Evaluating their Ecological Quality.
ScienceDirect, 173, 355-363.
Pratap, S., & Jaweriah, H. (2019). Crop Diversification and Resilience of Agriculture to Climatic
Shocks: Evidence from India. ScienceDirect, 173, 345-354.
Scott, J. (2017). The Effects of Forest Degradation on Ecosystem. Retrieved from SCIENCING:
https://sciencing.com/effects-forest-degradation-ecosystems-8333738.html
Yohannes, H. (2016). A Review on Relationship between Climate Change and Agriculture.
Journal of Earth Science and Climate Change, 7(2), 335.