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  • Essay / The Pros and Cons of Potato Famine - 1206

    Due to the piecemeal increase in populations, population expansion has become a problem. Humans were forced to take land from surrounding habitats in order to create their own. The destruction of forests and Greenland has caused deforestation, animal endangerment and extinction. “Agriculture is estimated to be the direct cause of around 80% of deforestation worldwide” (Wageningen University). During this time, crops gradually depleted almost all nutrients from the soil, leaving areas bare and unable to sustain plant life. Making the acres useless to humans or animals and in return humans had to expand further into settled areas in order to find fertile land. The sudden environmental load of carbon dioxide due to the increase in population and the decrease of forest plants to convert the high levels of carbon dioxide has produced an environmental problem that affects climate and seasonal cycles. Recent research shows that "in Latin America, commercial agriculture is the main direct driver, responsible for 2/3 of all forests cut, while in Africa and tropical Asia, commercial agriculture and agriculture livelihoods both account for a third of deforestation” (Wageningen University). When considering the shift from hunting-gathering to agriculture in a global perspective, the transition was very selfish on the part of the population.