Explanation: Deforestation:

• Indiscriminate felling of trees as a result of urbanization, industrialization, mining operations, and use of wood for domestic and other purposes have caused heavy depletion of forests. This is called deforestation.
• Deforestation results in the conversion of forest land to a non-forest use.

Causes of Deforestation
Agriculture: As per UNFCCC, agriculture is the direct cause of deforestation. Subsistence farming, commercial agriculture, shifting cultivation, and industrial logging all-cause deforestation.

• Developmental Projects like hydroelectric projects, reservoirs etc. require immense deforestation.
• Raw Material requirements Overgrazing by cattle Other causes like mining, overpopulation, and urbanization, floods, forest fires due to climate change etc.

Impacts of Deforestation
 Environmental Impacts: Deforestation is a contributor to global warming and is often cited as one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect as it causes carbon stores held in the soil to be
released.

• Deforestation affects wind flows, water vapor flows and absorption of solar energy thus clearly influencing local and global climate.
• The water cycle is also affected by deforestation. Trees extract groundwater through their roots and release it into the atmosphere. When part of a forest is removed, the trees no longer transpire this water, resulting in a much drier climate.
• Deforestation causes: Increase in the rate of soil erosion. This can further lead to flooding in the river and makes the soil susceptible to landslides.
• Removal or destruction of significant areas of forest cover has resulted in a degraded environment with reduced biodiversity.
  Deforestation can destroy genetic variations (such as crop resistance) irretrievably.

Economic Impacts:
 A short-term economic gain made by conversion of forest to agriculture, or over-exploitation of wood

products, typically leads to a loss of long-term income and long-term biological productivity.

Sources: NCERT