This piece of evidence clearly shows that humans are a major cause of climate change due to deforestation driven by agricultural needs. Deforestation, which means cutting down trees and removing forests, is happening most rapidly in places like Africa and South America. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, around 420 million hectares of forest were lost between 1990 and 2020. That’s a huge amount of land! Even though the rate of deforestation has decreased in recent years, it was still about 10 million hectares every year from 2015 to 2020. This means that while some progress is being made, forests are still being destroyed at an alarming rate. The main reason for this destruction is the high demand for agricultural products. Large companies, known as agribusinesses, clear vast areas of forest to grow cash crops like palm oil and soya, as well as to make space for cattle ranching. When trees are cut down, it not only removes habitats for wildlife but also releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which contributes to climate change. Therefore, this evidence highlights that the actions of humans, especially in agriculture, are significant contributors to global warming and environmental degradation.
elaborate on how this piece of evidence proves humans are the cause of climate change for a body paragraph on a 8th grade level
“In the last decade, the largest amounts of deforestation occurred across the humid tropics, mostly in Africa, followed by South America. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that around 420 million hectares of forest were lost between 1990 and 2020 (or 178 million hectares net, i.e. taking into account afforestation and the natural expansion of forests). The annual rate of deforestation has since slowed but was still 10 million hectares per year between 2015 and 2020. The most important driver of deforestation is the global demand for agricultural commodities: agribusinesses clear huge tracts of forest and use the land to plant high-value cash crops like palm oil and soya, and for cattle ranching.”
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