Today, the total percentage of forest cover of the earth is approximately thirty percent (“Deforestation”). That is about nine percent of the world’s total surface. The largest rainforest is the Amazon River Basin, located in South America. The Amazon is home to many species of animals, insects, plants and trees. Many of the trees and plants in the Amazon produce about twenty percent of the oxygen on earth, and absorb carbon. However, the Amazon is decreasing in size every day due to the ongoing deforestation of the land. Deforestation is when the forest of the land are cleared or destroyed, in order to be used for other actions (“Deforestation”). The Amazon is twenty percent less than it was about forty years ago (Wallace). In just about every hour to two, land that is larger than two hundred football fields put together is being cleared (Wallace). With the ongoing actions of deforestation in South America, the world could face many effects that will impact every living species.
When deforestation continues to occur, the environment in the world becomes more and more impacted by greenhouse gases. As these greenhouse gases allow sunlight to enter the earth, there is some light that reflects back into space called infrared or heat radiation (“Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change, and Energy”). The greenhouse gases trap the heat radiation from leaving into space (“Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change, and Energy”). When the heat radiation is trapped, it causes the earth’s temperature to rise (“Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change, and Energy”). Among these greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, which is a gas that trees absorb (“Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change, and Energy”). As the trees absorb the carbon dioxide, they produce and release ...
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The Amazon Rain Forest crosses several national boundaries in South America, although the majority of it is located in Brazil. It covers over 3,562,000 acres, making it the largest in the world. But globally, over 138,600 acres of rain forest are lost each year to deforestation, 50,000 of those in Brazil alone (Holdsforth), and the world's rain forests are quickly disappearing. Deforestation in the Amazon occurs primarily for three reasons: clear-cutting, fragmentation, and edge effects.
The research paper will discuss and consider the long term negative effect in the Amazon rainforest which is caused by deforestation. First, the paper will present the cause and effect of land deforestation. Another consideration is endangered species extinction that leads to effect the Amazon’s biodiversity. Finally, the paper will focus on how climate transformation and global warming affect the Amazon and what should people do in order to save the forests and solve those problems.
Of all of the issues that effect the planet Earth from a Global Change standpoint, one of the most visible and highly publicized is the issue of rainforest destruction. The loss of this emerald on the planet's crown will end life as we know it, if something is not done...
Deforestation is the clearing of a forest and/or cutting down of trees for human benefits such as agriculture, wood exports, etc. Deforestation is the cause of numerous environmental impacts such as habitat loss, flooding and soil erosion. It can also cause climate change, by reducing the amount of rainfall and changing the amount of sunlight reflected from Earth’s surface and increases the risk of forest . Tree growth is important for biodiversity because they absorb carbon dioxide which is a harmful greenhouse gas . However, since deforestation reduces natural carbon sinks, it disrupts the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air causing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air to increase. This poses a serious threat since carbon dioxide traps the sun’s heat and radiated light inside the earth’s atmosphere. So, with the increase in carbon dioxide more heat is trapped and thus adding to the effects of global warming. Among the many places where deforestation takes place, Amazon seems to be one of the most affected ones. More than 20 percent of it is already gone, and much more of it is severely threatened due to deforestation . It is estimated that the Amazon alone is vanishing at a rate of 20,000 square miles a year .
The Amazon is a vast region spanning across six South America countries Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela (Walker, & Cesareo 2014). The Amazon is one of the most developed rainforest of anywhere in the world. Over two-thirds of all the fresh water and 20% of the earth’s oxygen are produced in the Amazons (wcupa.edu). Despite the vital role of the Amazons, carless practices continue the rapid deforestation of the ecosystem. (Mainville, et al, 2006). The main causes of deforestation include unsustainable logging, agriculture, invasive species, fire, fuel wood gathering, and livestock grazing (Thompson, et al. 2013). The widespread of this issue is of importance in global policy processes, which deals with biodiversity, climate change, and forest management (Thompson, et al. 2013). The Ecuador has some of the highest rates of deforestation; an estimated 3% of the land is yearly destroyed (Mecham, 2001). “The Ecuador’s interandean basin native vegetation has been practically eliminated since colonial times, replaced by crops, pasture, towns and cities, and exotic tree plantations. This area suffers severe soil erosion problems even today” (Mecham, 2001). The continuum of deforestation issues continues to destroy the ecological habitat of the Amazonian Indians (Mecham, 2001). In the area of Napo River Valley West of the Ecuadorian Amazon, deforestation has resulted in an abrupt end of harmony between man and nature (Mainville, et al., 2006). The desire for economic profits continues to fuel the already alarming rate of the Amazon. According to the Rain Forest foundation, “When Texaco entered the Ecuadorean Oriente in, 1967; the area was considered the most biodiverse place on Earth. Since then, more than 20 billi...
One reason that people should stop cutting down the rainforest is because many plants and animals are being harmed and losing their homes. The Amazon is home to many more than half of the world’s specimen of plants and animals. Over 70% of the rainforest’s animals and plants live on the subcanopy, or the second highest level of the trees. When you destroy even one tree, many plants and animals, either die or have to find new homes. Many of these tropical plants also have medicinal values such as curing malaria. Sadly, according to Michael Greenwell, the deforestation of the Amazon has led to 26 species of plants and animals and 644 species to be on the brink of endangerment. According to UNEP, about 857,666 square kilometers of land has been lost in one year. The area lost is approximately the size of Venezuela. To keep cutting down trees in the rainforest would be dooming 38 species to extinction. It may seem that the Amazon is vast in recourses and cutting down one tree will not harm much, but if we ...
The rainforest is one of the most diverse places on our planet, containing over half or the world’s animal and plant species. Furthermore, it produces 40% of the world’s oxygen. We humans are cutting down trees, killing all the animals and plant living there, and reducing the size of rainforest.
Deforestation is an act of destruction and removal of the large area of the forest. There are several reasons to why deforestation occur. Mining, logging, urbanization, logging, agricultural clearing and various other natural disasters are mostly the factors behind such change. While deforestation occurs worldwide, it has been a critical issue for the Amazon Rainforest. The Amazon Rainforest can be found in 9 different countries but the majority of it (around 60%) is located in Brazil. The rest of the rainforest can be found in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. As it spreads into several counties and a vast land, it can be difficult keep track of deforestation at times. Due to deforestation, several species of plants and animals are almost in verge of extinct. The longtime effect of deforestation is irreversible and devastating and in terms of Amazon rainforest, experts have measured the destruction rate at more than 360 square miles in just one month.
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.
Deforestation is fast becoming one of the world’s worst environmental/geographical occurring disasters known to mankind, and is due to humankind’s greed, ignorance and carelessness when considering the future of our environment.
The Amazon rainforest has a huge role not only in the forest itself but in our future and with the way we humans live. Daily, the Amazon provides the world with things such as medicines, fruits and nuts, spices, and of course some of the air that we breathe. The Amazon rainforest itself absorbs over two and a half billion tons of carbon dioxide a year. It also releases over two billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. With the deforestation of the Amazon increasing with time, less trees are being used to control the intake and outtake of the carbon dioxide. Other than releasing the carbon dioxide the rainforest also is responsible for twenty percent of earth’s oxygen. The Amazon additionally generates the hydrological cycle, which
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.
The Amazon rainforest is perhaps the richest collection of plant and animals diversity in the world. It recycles rainfall from coastal regions to the continental interior, providing water for Brazil’s inland agriculture. Big industries like Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, and Cargill have established industrial soy plantations in Brazil that are taking over large plots of land in the Amazon rainforest (Food for Thought). Soy has been popularized in the past decade as a healthy protein substitute for the restricted diets of vegetarians and vegans. In the past 40 years, soybean production has increased by 500% (Soy Benefits). International demand for the soybean has been on the rise, and with it comes an increase in deforestation and environmental degradation.
The Amazon rainforest has more species of plants and animals than any other ecosystem in the world. It is estimated that 30% of all the world's species are found in the Amazon. The Amazon rainforests are among the most threatened in the world. Large scale agriculture, clearing land for cattle pastures, and logging are the main causes...
Recent research suggests that beef livestock is the primary cause of deforestation (specifically in the Brazilian Amazon) (Nepstad et al. 2014). In the Pantanal region of Brazil, 80% of land is used for cattle ranches (Nepstad et al. 2014). This is of particular concern because the Pantanal region is the largest freshwater wetland in the world harboring the largest concentration of fauna in the Americas (Nepstad et al. 2014). Using such a vast amount of land for cattle ranches around the world means destruction of habitat and severe loss of biodiversity (Nepstad et al. 2014).