Assignment:
Please provide a 150 word response to the below student discussion:
We all know the biggest connection between these 2 environmental factors and all locations...it's people. Humans are the sole cause to both pollution and deforestation both locally and globally. It is because of of blatant disregard and/or denial of possible consequences. Forests are being cut down mainly for agricultural reasons. The top 4 behind it are beef, soybeans, palm oil and wood products (UCS USA, 2021). When these trees are cleared, the carbon dioxide stored in their roots is released back into the atmosphere and the plant no longer outputs oxygen. A ripple affect can be seen in multiple different areas. The release of CO2 then contributes to climate change and global warming by increasing greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. There's erosion of the land no longer held down by roots. Species go extinct from a lack of habitat and much much.
Pollution is a broad term. Of course, pollution is connected deforestation because there aren't as many plants to absorb the extra gases. Pollution can be more than just gases though. It can be run off and toxic chemicals being dumped into our water ways. This in turn can poison and kill whole ecosystems. Pollution is again, caused by humans. Locally it could be a large manufacturing plant. For example, I live exactly 2.5 miles away from a Marathon Petroleum Refinery and TimkenSteel. In the summer, there's constant air quality warnings. Globally, it's the mega manufacturer's polluting both the air and our oceans with plastics, waste, and toxic gases.
I'll end with one of my favorite quotes "Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned will we realize that we cannot eat money."