Deforestation is the process by which forests are converted to non-forested land. Although deforestation can occur as a result of natural causes such as forest fires, it is also an example of one of the many ways in which human mismanagement of natural resources impacts our planet.

Driven by economics, societal need, and personal comfort, humans are reshaping the planet. The vastly changed condition of the Bolivian rainforest depicted in this resource is just one environmental consequence of human mismanagement. Another scene of degradation is in Shenzen China, where ten years of economic growth and commercial development has led to the disappearance of vegetation in the surrounding region. Other problems can be found near dam sites worldwide, where good intentions to control flooding and generate electricity have submerged important wildlife habitat and prevented land-building sediment from flowing downstream.

The causes of deforestation are complex. On the surface, the process is driven by demand for timber and farm-and pasture-land. But the primary underlying cause is poverty. In Bolivia, which holds part of the Amazon rainforest, the average annual income is equivalent to $800. Farmers in the countries of the Amazon rainforest do not have the money to buy necessities, so they must raise cattle or crops to live on and to sell. But to do this, they need land. By clearing tracts of land in a small-scale process known as "slash and burn," they convert forestland to farmland. However, because rainforest soil is thin and low in nutrients, pastures and crop fields can be used for only a short time before they are no longer fertile and must be abandoned.

Because commercial farmers can deforest several square miles at a time, the increasing presence of large-scale modern farming operations is putting even more pressure on rainforests. As happened in other tropical rainforests, including those in neighboring Brazil, the pace at which land was cleared in Bolivia was slow in the 1980s, but increased in the 1990s. Data gathered over time by several Landsat series of spacecraft show enormous tracts of forest disappearing when the systematic cutting of roads penetrated into new areas and opened more territory to potential deforestation.

Many of today's human mismanagement problems occur in developing countries, the areas of greatest population growth. So it bears asking, can better management of natural resources be expected as Earth's population continues to explode? Or will mismanagement ultimately lead to ecological collapse? If the current rate of deforestation continues, the world's rain forests will vanish within 100 years — causing unknown effects on global climate and the elimination of the majority of plant and animal species on the planet.

Thanks to technological advances, including space-based satellite imaging systems, scientists today can continuously monitor changes to Earth's surface and quickly identify signs of trouble. Their findings, combined with cooperation between government and industry, will be critical to future resource management programs.

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