Final answer:
The paragraph effectively details the severe impact of deforestation on global forest cover, emphasizing the critical role forests play in sustaining biodiversity and the environment, and presents the human activities that contribute to deforestation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The author develops the key concept of deforestation by first establishing the extent to which forests cover the Earth and how this coverage is rapidly declining. They explain the dual causes of deforestation which include both natural processes like fires and human activities such as clearing land for agriculture and using wood for various purposes. The paragraph underscores the importance of forests for ecological balance, and the adverse effects of deforestation on people, animals, and the environment. The author then provides specific examples of countries suffering from significant deforestation and the consequences therein, such as loss of species habitats and contribution to climate change, thus making a case for why deforestation should be halted.