Deforestation and Peat Destruction
➔ Deforestation is used for
● Building
● Farming (cattle and rice fields, grow crops and biofuels)
● Dumping waste (Landfill)
● Mining
➔ More land that is used less land that is available for organisms
● Habitats get destroyed
➔ Deforestation causes many problems
● Destroys habitats which leads to migration or even extinction which
reduces biodiversity
● Tree roots hold soil together making it more stable and less prone to
erosion by rain without trees soil is lost reducing nutrients
● Land cleared will be more prone to flooding due to loose soil being
washed away
● Less trees means less CO2 is removed from the atmosphere (via
photosynthesis) speeding up global warming which could also destroy
habitats
○ When trees burn even more CO2 is released into atmosphere as
trees contain a lot of CO2
Destruction of peat bogs
➔ Bogs are waterlogged and acidic areas of land
● Very little oxygen so when plants die they do not decompose completely
instead they form peat
● They do not get released as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere instead
carbon is stored in peat
● Provides a habitat for several organisms
➔ When peat is burnt as fuel or bogs are drained
● Amount of oxygen increases (combustion) so respiring microorganisms
begin to decompose the peat
● Increases CO2 in the air increases effects of global warming
(combustion)
➔ Peat bogs are used for
● Garden compost (cheap)
○ If farmers had to use peat free compost it would be more
expensive which would increase the price of food
● Fuel (heating)
➔ Deforestation is used for
● Building
● Farming (cattle and rice fields, grow crops and biofuels)
● Dumping waste (Landfill)
● Mining
➔ More land that is used less land that is available for organisms
● Habitats get destroyed
➔ Deforestation causes many problems
● Destroys habitats which leads to migration or even extinction which
reduces biodiversity
● Tree roots hold soil together making it more stable and less prone to
erosion by rain without trees soil is lost reducing nutrients
● Land cleared will be more prone to flooding due to loose soil being
washed away
● Less trees means less CO2 is removed from the atmosphere (via
photosynthesis) speeding up global warming which could also destroy
habitats
○ When trees burn even more CO2 is released into atmosphere as
trees contain a lot of CO2
Destruction of peat bogs
➔ Bogs are waterlogged and acidic areas of land
● Very little oxygen so when plants die they do not decompose completely
instead they form peat
● They do not get released as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere instead
carbon is stored in peat
● Provides a habitat for several organisms
➔ When peat is burnt as fuel or bogs are drained
● Amount of oxygen increases (combustion) so respiring microorganisms
begin to decompose the peat
● Increases CO2 in the air increases effects of global warming
(combustion)
➔ Peat bogs are used for
● Garden compost (cheap)
○ If farmers had to use peat free compost it would be more
expensive which would increase the price of food
● Fuel (heating)
