Brazil holds the global warming issue in the palms of its hands and the government of the world’s fifth-largest economy doesn’t seem to care. A recent article featured on usatoday.com states that the destruction of the Amazon rainforest rose 28% from August 2012 to July 2013 after 4 straight years of decline (Sibaja, 2013). I’m sure this may surprise some people because of the widespread concern of global warming and the affect it may have on future generations, but I don’t think the Brazilian government cares or is going to care unless another global superpower (France, Germany, China, United Kingdom, or the United States) presents some form of regulation and oversight to minimalize the emission of carbon dioxide.
Photosynthesis and carbon dioxide go hand-in-hand. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines photosynthesis as the process by which a green plant turns water and carbon dioxide into food when the plant is exposed to light. The Amazon basin contains the world’s largest rainforest with approximately 3.4 million square miles covered in forest and vegetation. To put that amount of land into perspective, it’s the size of all of Western Europe with room to spare (Global Issues, 2013). With the increase of deforestation in the Amazon comes the increase of carbon dioxide. Once trees are cut down or die, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and could become an accelerant of global warming.
Since the 1970’s, cattle ranching has been the primary cause of deforestation as Brazil has turned to beef to grow its economy. The Brazilian real became significantly devalued against the American dollar thus causing beef to double in value. This increase in value led cattle ranchers to expand their pastures at the expense of the r...
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... have to realize is that their actions, or lack thereof, could have a devastating impact. Loss of the ozone layer due to global warming equals the loss of life.
Works Cited
Amazon Destruction: Why is the rainforest being destroyed in Brazil? (n.d.). Retrieved from Mongabay.com: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_destruction.html
"Brazil: Amazon Rain Forest Destruction and Reforestation Policies." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Global Issues In Context. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.
Sibaja, M. (2013, November 14). Destruction of Brazil's Amazon jumps 28%. Retrieved from usatoday.com: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/11/14/brazil-amazon-destruction/3541703/
Wallace, S. (n.d.). Farming the Amazon. Retrieved from nationalgeographic.com: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/last-of-amazon/#page=1
Wright, David, Heather LaRocca, and Grant DeJongh. "Global Problems." The Amazonian Rainforest: Forest to Farmland? The University of Michigan, 2007. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
Governments in these countries need to stop thinking of forests as a renewable resource. The rate at which they are harvesting these areas drives them beyond the boundaries of sustainability. The efforts required by reforestation may not initially be cost effective, but it will result in not only the survivability of the environment, but of the country’s economy. Widespread awareness of these ideas will help fight against the natural human tendency towards instant gratification and short-term goals. Different methods of logging can be utilized to allow the rainforests to survive and regrow naturally and at a sustainable
The Amazon Rain Forest Is in Danger of Being Destroyed" by Devadas Vittal. Rain Forests. HaiSong Harvey, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2002. Reprinted from Devadas Vittal, Introduction: What Is the Amazon Rainforest? Internet: http://www.homepages.go.com/homepages/d/v/i/dvittal/amazon/intro.html, November 1999, by permission of the author. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010021212&mode=view
There are many rainforests in the world but one of the biggest one is the Amazon rainforest, which is located in the northern half of South America and lies in the countries of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia. The Amazon also lies in between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. The size of the Amazon resembles the size of the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. Since this rain forest lies next to the Equator, the climate is warm and humid. The average temperature is in between sixty-eight to ninety- three degrees. The Amazon has two seasons but each one is six months each. They are classified as the wet season and the dry season. The wet season occurs between December to May and the dry season occurs between June to November. The average rainfall is fifty to two hundred and sixty inches per year. The forest floor only gets up to two to five percent of sunlight since the canopy blocks the sunlight from getting to the forest floor. The Amazon rain forest got the nickname, the world’s pharmacy, because many medicines have been found in the tree bark, the tree’s leaves, and other parts of the trees.
The introduction of cattle ranching industries in the 1960s set the forefront for current Brazilian rainforest deforestation figures. During this time, development subsidy programs encouraged Brazilians to clear rainforest for pastureland and invest in new cattle ranches (Pancheco). Over the last 40 years, Brazil has destroyed 700,00 square kilometers of rainforest, an area about the size of Texas (BBC) (Enchanted Lear...
The. Amazon Rainforest - Deforestation. Retrieved from http://www.effects-of-deforestation.com/amazon-rainforest-deforestation.php. unknown. The symphony of the symphony.
Countries such as Brazil and Indonesia have been greatly affected by deforestation with well over two million hectares of naturally forested land now rendered barren (See appendix 1).
Nowadays deforestation is the one of the most important and controversial environmental issues in the world. Deforestation is cutting down, clearing away or burning trees or forests. Particularly tropical rainforests are the most waning type of forests because of its location in developing countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, India, central African countries and Brazil. Deforestation rate in those regions is high enough to worry about, because of large economic potential of forest areas. As the result of causes such as agriculture land expansion, logging for timber, fire blazing and settling infrastructure there might be serious impacts in future. For instance, extinction of endemic species of animals and plants which will be feral, increase of greenhouse gas emissions which may lead to global warming and consecutive catastrophes, destruction of home for indigenous residents which is considered as violation of human rights. Some people can argue with these drawbacks telling that deforestation have more valuable benefits such as growth of economics, production of food and providing better opportunities for life for poor families. However, these benefits are quite temporary and government of that countries and world organisations tries to halt deforestation proposing several solutions. Deforestation problem is especially acute in the Brazilian Amazon, where its rate is much high comparing with other regions. This paper will describe world-wide rainforests, causes and effects of deforestation, and evaluate possible solutions of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
15 Nov. 2013. Climate Change in the Amazon. WWF. Web. The Web.
The FAO report does not compile statistics for tropical forest regions as a whole, but the country-by-country and regional-scale statistics provide a grim picture. The scope and impact of deforestation can be viewed in different ways. One is in absolute numbers: total area of forest cleared over a certain period. By that metric, all three major tropical forest areas, including South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, are represented near the top of the list. Brazil led the world in terms of total deforested area between 1990 and 2005. The country lost 42,330,000 hectares (163,436 square miles) of forest, roughly the size of California. Rounding out the top five tropical countries with the greatest total area of deforestation were Indonesia, Sudan, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
With deforestation at such a large scale, as it is in the Amazon, it is bound to have harsh and negative effects. When deforestation occurs, the dead or burnt trees release gases into the air. Gas molecules that absorb thermal infrared radiation are called greenhouse gases. If greenhouse gases are in large enough quantity, they can force climate change. When trees die, have fallen, or are burned down, they release the carbon that has been stored in them.
Bradford, A. (2015, March 04). Deforestation: Facts, Causes & Effects. Live Science. Retrieved: from http://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html
One of the most evident problems associated to the environment is the issue of the logging of trees, mainly in undisturbed places such as the Amazon basin. Trees are considered the lungs of the Earth. They recycle all the polluting carbon in the air and return oxygen back into our atmosphere, creating a stable cycle of carbon in our atmosphere. However, the impeccable rates which trees are being cut down in our forests have grown to ever increasing and alarming rates. Trees that are made way for farming are burnt up releasing deadly amounts of carbon and thus leading to the problem of global warming. As its names suggest the world is slowly warming up and without any notice the environment which God has gave us will be slowly eradicated. The daily lives which humans carry on about every day are also a factor influencing on our environment and global warming. By driving cars that have a thirst for petrol we are releasing carbon dioxide and furthermore impacting on the world?s climate. In Australia environmental impact has always been evident. Land clearing especially in places such as Queensland has caused land to lay dry and lifeless where all forms of life is destroyed. By clearing land we are not only affecting our climate but are also destroying animal habitat and the usage of the land. Senseless actions by commuters in Australia, emitting tons and tons of lethal gases vulnerable to the atmosphere are starting to take its toll on our climate. We are seeing a harsher climate and at the same time less rain. If we want to preserve our world we must take a stance on this issue and take action for what is right, not carrying on the actions that will lead to a desolate, destroyed Earth.
Fearnside, Philip M. "Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia: History, Rates, and Consequences." Conservation Biology 19.3 (2005): 680-688. Print.
The Disappearing Rainforests Conserving the rainforest is a global issue of great importance. Tropical rainforests provide a habitat for animals, a unique ecosystem for vegetation, and an abundance of resources for humans, yet they are being destroyed at an astonishing rate. Experts estimate that if these endangered territories continue to be consumed in this manner, no more will be standing in forty years (Rainforest). Examining the social, environmental, and economic costs of the continued destruction of the Earth's tropical rainforests will prove that deforestation for short-term profit is ultimately not viable.