Environmental from above:
Lost habitat
Animal and plant species are being lost due to their habitat being destroyed by deforestation. Those species that we already know of are becoming extinct, but also those that we aren't aware of yet, and therefore never will know about.
The tree's occupying the rainforest not only provide shelter for such animals, but also help to regulate the temperature. The deforestation and removal of such canopies would result in a larger variation in temperature between day and night, which would be fatal for many species.
Increased greenhouse gasses
The loss of trees allows more greenhouse gasses to be released into the atmosphere. Currently, the tropical rainforests of South America account for 20% of the World's oxygen, and they're disappearing at 4 hectares a decade.
Water in the atmosphere
The trees in the rainforest also control the amount of water in the atmosphere, by helping to regulating the water cycle. With trees being destroyed in deforestation, there is less water in the air to be returned to soil, which causes drier soil and the inability to grow crops.
Environmental from below:
Soil erosion and flooding
One of trees often looked over functions is to retain water and topsoil, which provides the nutrients to sustain forest life. Without trees, the soil erodes and washes away, which results in farmers moving away and doing the same to another patch of land. This eroded land is more susceptible to flooding, especially in coastal areas.
On Indigenous people:
Destruction of homelands
As the rainforest is cleared away, exposed earth withers and dies, and the habitats of species is destroyed, the indigenous people who depend on these species and vegetation to sustain their way of life are also damaged. It effects their lifestyle in a way we will never know. Government nations with tropical rainforests often try (and succeed) to evict these indigenous tribes before the destruction occurs, which is a pre-emptive effect of deforestation.
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