Values, Alterations and Degradation of the Natural Landscape 91
• Regulation and stabilization of the water cycle
• Global climate stabilization through binding and storing of atmospheric CO 2
• Regulation of the local climate through the increase of evapotranspiration and, consequently, of humidity, and reduction of the temperature
variations amplitude
• Regulation of nutrients’ circulation in the ecosystems
• Regulation of water and atmospheric air quality
Forest destruction has both local and more general consequences. At a
local level, the ability of the area to retain underground water is decreased;
thus the enrichment of the water table and the spring water supply decrease,
whereas the torrent peaks increase. Erosion leads to loss of soil, heavier
torrential phenomena and transport of great quantities of debris, while the
elimination of nutrients from the ground enriches aquatic ecosystems and
can create eutrophic conditions. Flora and fauna variety is significantly
decreased and the function of other ecosystems is disturbed. Disturbances
are also caused to the local climate and to the water and air quality. At
a planetary level, forest losses entail the strengthening of the greenhouse
effect and of the climatic change danger, the serious reduction of biodiversity, acceleration of desertification and perturbation of biochemical cycles.
5.2.5.1 Deforestation
The destruction of forest ecosystems, with tropical forests as a spearhead,
is one of the major contemporary environmental problems. The phenomenon is more acute today but is not new, given that deforestation began in
the Palaeolithic era and has continued throughout human history. Forest
clearing for the creation of agricultural land and pastures has played the
most significant role. It is estimated that human interventions have reduced
the planet’s forests to 4.2 billion hectares, i.e. to approximately two-thirds
of the acreage they covered 10,000 years ago. The consequences, mainly
erosion and floods, were already known in antiquity to the civilizations of
China, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean. In Europe, many forested
areas were destroyed during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance under
the pressure of the developing population’s needs for ship-building material ,
fuels, lands for grazing or cultivation etc.
Today, the percentage of forest cover has been stabilized in Europe, while
deforestation has tended to cease also in most of the developed countries.
The global forest problem is mainly centred in tropical forests that continue
to be felled or to burn much faster than they are replaced by natural regeneration or artificial reforestation. Every year, approximately 11 million
hectares of woodland are destroyed by felling or fires and the forest is
restored in only 10% of that surface. The major factor for deforestation is
• Regulation and stabilization of the water cycle
• Global climate stabilization through binding and storing of atmospheric CO 2
• Regulation of the local climate through the increase of evapotranspiration and, consequently, of humidity, and reduction of the temperature
variations amplitude
• Regulation of nutrients’ circulation in the ecosystems
• Regulation of water and atmospheric air quality
Forest destruction has both local and more general consequences. At a
local level, the ability of the area to retain underground water is decreased;
thus the enrichment of the water table and the spring water supply decrease,
whereas the torrent peaks increase. Erosion leads to loss of soil, heavier
torrential phenomena and transport of great quantities of debris, while the
elimination of nutrients from the ground enriches aquatic ecosystems and
can create eutrophic conditions. Flora and fauna variety is significantly
decreased and the function of other ecosystems is disturbed. Disturbances
are also caused to the local climate and to the water and air quality. At
a planetary level, forest losses entail the strengthening of the greenhouse
effect and of the climatic change danger, the serious reduction of biodiversity, acceleration of desertification and perturbation of biochemical cycles.
5.2.5.1 Deforestation
The destruction of forest ecosystems, with tropical forests as a spearhead,
is one of the major contemporary environmental problems. The phenomenon is more acute today but is not new, given that deforestation began in
the Palaeolithic era and has continued throughout human history. Forest
clearing for the creation of agricultural land and pastures has played the
most significant role. It is estimated that human interventions have reduced
the planet’s forests to 4.2 billion hectares, i.e. to approximately two-thirds
of the acreage they covered 10,000 years ago. The consequences, mainly
erosion and floods, were already known in antiquity to the civilizations of
China, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean. In Europe, many forested
areas were destroyed during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance under
the pressure of the developing population’s needs for ship-building material ,
fuels, lands for grazing or cultivation etc.
Today, the percentage of forest cover has been stabilized in Europe, while
deforestation has tended to cease also in most of the developed countries.
The global forest problem is mainly centred in tropical forests that continue
to be felled or to burn much faster than they are replaced by natural regeneration or artificial reforestation. Every year, approximately 11 million
hectares of woodland are destroyed by felling or fires and the forest is
restored in only 10% of that surface. The major factor for deforestation is