What are the impacts of deforestation on the Earth’s oxygen and carbon cycles? What are the other consequences of deforestation?
(i) Deforestation removes plants, which are crucial for maintaining the oxygen cycle. Plants restore oxygen in the atmosphere through photosynthesis by using sunlight, water, and CO2. By cutting down trees, the production of oxygen decreases, which disrupts the natural balance between oxygen consumption (through respiration and combustion) and its production.
Deforestation severely impacts the carbon cycle by saturating natural carbon sinks like forests. With fewer trees available, less CO2 is absorbed from the atmosphere for photosynthesis. This results in excess CO2 in the air, which intensifies greenhouse warming, thereby completely disrupting the carbon cycle.
(ii) The other consequences of deforestation include extreme weather and biodiversity loss due to rising CO2 levels. The excess atmospheric CO2 increases ocean absorption, which makes seawater more acidic.
This ocean acidification threatens tiny plankton and coral reefs, severely disrupting marine ecosystems. Furthermore, warmer ocean water reduces the ocean's capacity to absorb CO2 as an effective carbon sink. Thus, deforestation causes widespread damage to the Earth's natural systems.
Explanation
The answer is derived directly from the provided context. Part i connects deforestation to the oxygen cycle by noting that fewer plants mean less photosynthesis, disrupting the balance of oxygen production and consumption. For the carbon cycle, the text states deforestation saturates carbon sinks, causing excess CO2 and greenhouse warming. Part ii lists other consequences mentioned in the text, such as extreme weather, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification (threatening plankton and coral reefs), and reduced ocean capacity to absorb CO2.