What are the real reasons why rainforest are being destroyed? Agriculture, Cattle
Ranching, Dams, Logging, Mining, and Oil Companies, all of these are major reasons why our rainforests are disappearing. Animals, plants, and even people are losing their homes. Does it matter? Can they be saved?
The biggest cause to today’s disappearing rainforests is cattle ranching. ”Eighty-percent of the rainforest is being turned into pastures (Jamie)”. “Nearly 200 square feet of rainforest land is being destroyed because of cattle ranching (Jamie)”. Fifty-percent of the rainforest is destroyed due to slash n burn. “Slash n burn is the process of cutting down the vegetation in a particular plot of land and then setting fire to the remaining foliage (Steif).” “Twenty-years from now Costa Rica will no longer have any rainforest (Jamie).” Farmers everywhere have to move on and destroy more and more every year.
The second largest cause is logging. Logging causes a lot of destruction. The wood we use for everyday life comes from logging. “Logging is devastating to animals and plants because of the change in the environment (Jamie).” The more trees the loggers cut down, the more plants and animals they are killing. The canopy is a big help in the rainforest. The canopy blocks out the heat and keeps the air in at night. Cutting down the canopy is messing up the rainforest. It’s letting heat in and the cool air out, therefore damaging plants and animals of the rainforest with the change in the environment. The huge trees such as the mahogany and the teak get cut down and used for furniture all around the world. The smaller trees are then used for charcoal. Large areas of the rainforest are cut in one go. Then the most valuable tre...
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...es in the ecosystem where the trees where cut down (Mongabay).”
“Encourage people to live in a way that doesn’t hurt the environment (Mongabay)”
“Establish parks to protect rainforests (Mongabay).
“Support companies that operate in ways that minimize damage to the environment
(Mongabay). E Scott 4
Works Cited Page:
1. “Deforestation” National Geographic, Thomas Munita, Written 10 April, 2014, Accessed
16 April, 2014
2. “How can we Save Rainforests?” Mongabay Audley Travel. Written 11 April, 2014,
Accessed 16 April, 2014
3. “Why are Rainforest being destroyed?” Rainforest Concern. Written 1 April, 2014,
Accessed 16 April, 2014
4. “Skish and Burn Agriculture” Steif, Collin. About.com. Geography Intern. Written 14
May 2013, Accessed 5 May 2014.
5. “Interesting Facts on the Rainforest” srl.caltech.edu. Written 1 May, 2014. Accessed 9
May 2014.
there are only stumps? This is the result of clear-cut logging. The negative aspects of
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
Farmers are the agents of more Rainforest destruction than any other factor. Farmers in rainforest countries are often po...
the rainforest are about 70% of plants.the trees are very important and the trees actually give us
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 term "deforestation" refers to the clear-cutting of large sections of primary or original-growth forest, which causes the loss of native species of plant and animal life. This clearing of land is mainly due to agricultural needs, such as farming and cattle ranching, but also occurs to support logging and mining companies. The effect of the loss of forest is most obvious in the loss of native species. Eugene Ng, of the Hong Kong Technical Institute, explains that the "destruction of habitat forces species out of areas, or causes them to die." Other factors, according to Ng, "further restrict their range, exposing them to disease and predators."
In Indonesia, 8.828 million hectares of forests have been destroyed (see appendix 2). Around fifty acres of forests are removed every minute, not o...
Agriculture is an absolute necessity for human life on Earth to continue. There are too many people on the planet for existence as hunters and gatherers to work anymore. That said, it must be realized that concessions must be made to allow such food growth and production to occur. But this does not mean that another important element of life on Earth can be destroyed for it. Unfortunately, that is indeed what is occurring, at an alarming rate. The rainforests of the planet are dwindling as the land they belong on is used more and more for agriculture, all over the world. In the Amazon, ,the most commonly detrimental agricultural practice is the technique of land clearing known as Slash and Burn.
But in the bigger picture, with a disfigured food chain, humans will be effected due to their high standing within the food chain, thus making the results of climate change a significant issue. An environment that concerns the problems of extinction, a decaying atmosphere, and the destruction of the Earth’s homeostasis, is the rainforest. While for a section of time, efforts of activist groups and governments greatly and positively impacted the rainforests, the undertaking of saving the rainforest slowed down to a complete stop, and destruction continues instead. The rainforests
Driving along the old California logging roads, you see the trees start to thin out and the roads become illuminated. You begin to wonder, what happened to these beautiful trees and why are there only stumps left behind? Out here in the massive trees of California, the effects of humans are becoming even more prominent. With less than 5% left of the tallest trees in the world, and only 2.5% of them protected, the forests are suffering.
Simply speaking, rainforests are basically the foundation of the earth. The most important role that rainforests play is ‘the lungs of the earth’. This is extremely vital to the earth’s survival as the trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide which they use to help grow and let out oxygen which we need to live. This system is known as the carbon-oxygen cycle and with numbers of rainforests declining, it is highly threatened. The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon, alone is known to produce half of the world’s oxygen. A break down in the carbon-oxygen cycle means that we will not only have less oxygen, but an increase in carbon dioxide which eventually leads to global warming. This occurs as carbon dioxide traps heat which actually keeps the earth warm, with the right amount of carbon dioxide that is. This is called the greenhouse effect and occurs naturally however due to decreasing number of trees, there is more carbon dioxide than needed which traps extra heat making the earth hotter than needed, this is known as global warming which also causes a rise in sea level.
The single biggest direct cause of tropical deforestation is conversion to cropland and pasture, mostly for subsistence, which is growing crops or raising livestock to meet daily needs. The conversion to agricultural land usually results from multiple direct factors. For example, countries build roads into remote areas to improve overland transportation of goods. The road development itself causes a limited amount of deforestation. But roads also provide entry to previously inaccessible—and often unclaimed—land. Logging, both legal and illegal, often follows road expansion (and in some cases is the reason for the road expansion). When loggers have harvested an area’s valuable timber, they move on. The roads and the logged areas become a magnet for settlers—farmers and ranchers who slash and burn the remaining forest for cropland or cattle pasture, completing the deforestation chain that began with road building. In other cases, forests that have been degraded by logging become fire-prone and are eventually deforested by repeated accidental fires from adjacent farms or pastures.
These cause a great deal of damage to the forests because more trees have to be removed again to mine this merchandise. Brazil is once again a prime example of forest destruction. The population of poor shanty towns are being encouraged by the governments to move to the forested area. This once again means the felling of trees. You can work out that only 1 of the forests in the world is being destroyed by humans in so many
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.
what happens when one burns and cuts down old forests, one must still plant new