The Amazon Rainforest: Causes and Effects of Deforestation and Resulting Climate Changes With the advancements in technology, and humans becoming more populated and mobile, there became a need and desire for land expansion for agriculture and settlement. These demands for land led to the initial steps of “the transformation from an agrarian to an industrial society, the farms (people) abandoned were often reverted to woods” (Silver 116). The forests began to be cleared for “agriculture, settlements, …showed first 75 words of 1101 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1101 total…drought, flooding, and soil erosion in areas where such events were previously rare” (Defenders of the Rainforest). Deforestation has altered the global water cycle and influenced global warming. These initial effects of deforestation are just a start to the effects of deforestation in changing the global climate. As “stewards of the planet,” (Silver 128) humans have a “responsibility for maintaining its diversity” (Silver 128). We must refrain from using and exploiting natural resources solely for human gratification.