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Type of "forestry practice" which involves the
permanent removal of forests and their undergrowth so that the land can serve
another purpose. This practice has had a profound effect on global environmental
problems (air pollution, global warming), soil erosion, desertification,
sedimentation of water courses, alteration of climate and hydrological cycles,
alteration of the atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide balance and has caused
many species to become extinct, reducing worldwide biodiversity. A common
deforestation practice is to simply burn the forest while clearing the land for
a seasonal crop. This also creates a large-scale release of carbon dioxide
further compounding the global warming effect. Since most of the available
nutrients are contained in the forest biomass the newly cleared land does not
support a crop for more than a few seasons before adjacent land must be
deforested.
[Geotimes; v39; p.9; 1994.] [Choice; v31; p.1606-1607; 1994.]
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