Destruction of the Amazon Rainforest

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In South America lies the largest and most wondrous rainforest in the world, the Amazon Rainforest. This 1.4 billion acre forest represents over half of the planets remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most bio-diverse tract of rainforest in the world. Ten percent of all known species on the planet are found in this rain forest, most of which have yet to be discovered. For the past century, the Amazon has been gradually decreasing in size due to agricultural expansion, ranching, infrastructure projects, energy exploration and illegal logging. At its current state, the Amazon is losing land equal to the size of the state of Delaware every year. The destruction of this forest releases 340 million tons of carbon per year according to the World Wildlife Foundation, or WWF, which in turn cause climate changes everywhere around the world. Undiscovered species can hold the key to curing a plethora of diseases, but if those species become extinct those keys are lost forever. If nothing is done to prevent this, the world’s treasure trove of bio-diversity will cease to exist, creating irreversible damage to not only the South American people but also the rest of the world.

Conversion of the tropical forest into cropland and pasture began a long time ago in Ecuador, before their secession from Spain. Their major crop was cocoa, which was grown along the waterways to be exported out as their main source of trade. Due to the fact that after World War II expansion accelerated throughout the northwestern section of the forest, a highway system was put into construction. At this point in time, the Ecuadorian Amazon consisted of a few small towns that had been established in valleys and at the base of the mountains. Indigenous g...

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...e reformed to produce more efficient and less harmful means of using resources in the Amazon while also producing new industries to help stimulate these developing countries’ economies.

Works Cited

"Amazon." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.

"Amazon People." WWF. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.

"Can South America China-ify Its Economy Without Destroying The Amazon? | Co.Exist | Ideas Impact." Co.Exist. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.

"Climate Change in the Amazon." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.

"Climate Change in the Amazon." WWF. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.

"Medicinal Treasures of the Rainforest.” Discover the Healing Resources of the Amazon. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.

Southgate, Douglas DeWitt, and Morris D. Whitaker. Economic Progress and the Environment: One Developing Country's Policy Crisis. New York: Oxford UP, 1994. Print.

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