Question

Enumerate the environmental effects of burning fuel wood.

Answer 1

The environmental impacts of burning· fuel wood can be summarised as following:

1. The heavy removal of wood from forests can cause habitat destruction.
2. The deforestation for fuel wood cause soil erosion.
3. Burning of wood release carbon dioxide which is a green house gas, into the atmosphere resulting in global warming.
4. Inefficient and incomplete combustion of wood can result in elevated levels of greenhouse gases other than CO₂, which may result in positive emissions where the by-products have greater Carbon dioxide equivalent values.
5. The burning of fuel wood releases oxides of sulphur and nitrogen which interact with atmospheric moisture to cause acid rain.
6. The cutting down of trees for fuel wood disturbs the water cycle and reduces the amount of rainfall.
7. The temperature of a place rise as there are less or no trees that cool the surrounding by the transpiration and absorbing carbon dioxide.
8. The instance of flood increases as there are no trees that help in percolation of water.
9. The ground water level decreases because of the absence of trees and also decreases the soil moisture.
10. Scarcity of forest products deteriorates the economy of the people dependent on it.