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Deforestation on a human scale results in decline in biodiversity, [211] and on a natural global scale is known to cause the extinction of many species. [ 212 ] [ 213 ] The removal or destruction of areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reduced biodiversity . [ 118 ]
Land use change, especially in the form of deforestation, is the second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from human activities, after the burning of fossil fuels. [4] [5] Greenhouse gases are emitted from deforestation during the burning of forest biomass and decomposition of remaining plant material and soil carbon.
Some human activities that cause damage (either directly or indirectly) to the environment on a global scale include population growth, [11] [12] [13] neoliberal economic policies [14] [15] [16] and rapid economic growth, [17] overconsumption, overexploitation, pollution, and deforestation.
Land-use change, such as deforestation, caused about 31% of cumulative emissions over 1870–2022, coal 32%, oil 24%, and gas 10%. [3] [4] Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas resulting from human activities. It accounts for more than half of warming. Methane (CH 4) emissions have almost the same short-term impact. [5]
Habitat fragmentation is frequently caused by humans when native plants are cleared for human activities such as agriculture, rural development, urbanization and the creation of hydroelectric reservoirs. Habitats which were once continuous become divided into separate fragments.
Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been caused partly by unregulated logging and mining, but mostly by the demands made by the subsistence activities of a poor population. In the east of the country, for example, more than 3 million people live less than a day's walk from Virunga National Park .
Deforestation in the United States was affected by many factors. One such factor was the effect, whether positive or negative, that the logging industry has on forests in the country. Logging in the United States is a hotly debated topic as groups who either support or oppose logging argue over its benefits and negative effects.
Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological processes that slowly alter the layout of the physical environment [36] (suspected of being one of the major causes of speciation [36]), and human activity such as land conversion, which can alter the environment much faster and causes the extinction of many species.