The Destruction of the Earth’s Rain Forests
“In the time you can read this sentence, eight acres of tropical rain forest will have been bulldozed and burned out of existence” (Bloyd 49). However, this destruction has been neglected and overlooked for years. Many people do not understand the long-term consequences of losing the earth’s rain forests. The rain forests have provided people with many natural resources and medicines. The benefits that rain forests provide to people will be destroyed if the depletion continues to be disregarded.
No matter where a person lives, even if it is not near a rain forest, the complete destruction of rain forests will affect living conditions. For years rain forests have provided countries around the word with valuable resources, minerals, lumber, and energy. In Brazil alone the rain forests contains 45% of Brazil’s hydroelectric power. The minerals found in the rain forests of Brazil are estimated to value 1.6 trillion dollars, while the lumber that the rain forests can provide total 1.7 trillion dollars (“In the Forest” 1). Nutrients from decomposing organisms can be found throughout rain forests, including in soil and in trees. To continue destroying forests also destroys the important materials that they are providing to humans.
The rain forests also provide important exports such as oil, nuts, and rubber. Brazilian nuts have become an important export and coffee has been South America’s main source of money. After Charles Goodyear learned how to use rubber to benefit humans the demand for it increased. The Amazon began to provide rubber for tires made around the world. Today the Amazon still provides the world with a large supply of rubber. Deforestation of rain forests decreases the amount of rubber South America supplies, and businesses will soon have to find a new supply of this resource.
The plants found in the rain forests can be useful to everyone around the world. The Kayapo, a people of the Amazon, are dependent upon plants in the Amazon. A research team came into the area that the Kayapo people inhabit. A team of scientists researched 1,200 plants in the area. Their results have shown that 98% of these plants are used in the Kayapo society. Of all the plants 45% of them were never known to...
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Ending Destruction of the Rainforest As destruction of the rainforest continues, man slowly paves the inevitable path to a clear end. It has been known that the rainforest is an essential provider for the balance of the mother earth and that it acts as a key for life as we know it. Yet, the world still decides to quietly watch the disappearance. In fact, most people realize what exactly is taking place. But, however, instead of trying to aid in the termination of this disaster.
The Brazilian Rainforest is one of the most unique, vast, and diverse regions of the world. To get a general idea of the diversity of the Rainforest, it makes up a total of one-third of the world forests (more than four million square kilometers), it contains half of the total number of named species in the world (eighty-thousand plant species, 1,500 fish species, and one-forth of the 8,600 bird species), and is the world largest holder of genes (Library 138-139). To say the least, the Brazilian Rainforest is one of the most important natural resources we, as humans, know. It would seem that this knowledge, alone, would also make the Brazilian Rainforest one of the most protected land areas on Earth as well. However, the situation is quite the opposite. The Brazilian Rainforest has been greatly degraded by deforestation since the 1960 , which has led to numerous negative effects both environmentally and socially. This paper introduces the events that opened the door to deforestation, the most immediate causes and effects of deforestation in the Brazilian Rainforest, and my two-part solution to the problem of deforestation.
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
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.
Destroying Our Rainforests Every day, an average of two football field sizes of precious rainforest are torn down, killing millions of animals and destroying valuable pharmaceutical plants. A huge amount of these animals and plants have never, and will never be discovered. Experts say, "Close to eighty percent of the terrestrial species of animals and plants are to be found there [in the rainforest]. " As people tear down the rainforests, they are affecting the ozone layer, and disrupting the process that lets plants fight the deadly amount of pollution the world produces every day. Over three thousand plants found to help the fight against cancer.
There exist in certain areas of rainforest in Indonesia timber barons who employ what are commonly referred to as logging gangsters. The victims of this social problem are not only the rare species that inhabit the rainforests, such as the Sumatran Tiger and Orangutan, but also those people who wish to do something to stop this depletion. Environmental activists and journalists attempting to document or protest the atrocities are often killed or severely beaten by the criminals. Like all illegal trafficking, the illegal rainforest wood trade exists only because there is an outside force demanding it. In this case, the force is that of high-income countries.
Alyssa Parry Mr. Harris Language Arts 8, Period 7 November-December 2014 Can we stop land clearing in the Amazon rainforest? Over 312.5 miles of the Amazon rainforest are being cleared, burned, or destroyed daily. According to research, it is shown that in 1950, only 1% of the rainforest was deforested. Now, in 2014, 15-25% of the rainforest has been deforested. (national geographic.com) We must stop landclearing if we are to salvage and save the Amazon.
Zimmerman, Barbara. "Rain Forest Warriors: How Indigenous Tribes Protect the Amazon." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 22 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
The Amazonia is referred to “the lungs of the world,” supplying around 20% of Earth’s oxygen and taking in harmful greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide. The problem is, the Amazon forest is being destroyed, often my burning trees, to make space for cattle ranchers and soy farmers. According to an investigation, one acre of the rainforest land is lost every eight seconds. A key part to stop the deforestation of the Amazon is education. Scientists collect data and publish it in journals but never learned to communicate or educate anyone except their colleagues.
In recent years, a lot of attention has been drawn to the undeniable fact that we are rapidly depleting our natural resources, and destroying the environment around us. More and more people are coming to the realization that we must work to preserve our Earth's natural beauty and resources for future generations. One of the biggest issues that our world, as a whole, faces, is the destruction and deforestation of our rainforests. These very same rainforests that we are chopping, and burning down, are home to the most wildly diverse populations of plant and animal species, many of which cannot be found anywhere else on Earth! Three centuries ago, 14% of our planet was covered in rainforests.
Rainforests once covered 14% of the worlds land surface, however now it only covers a mere 6%. It is estimated that all rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Trees are becoming more needed and used everyday. We need them cut down for many reasons such as paper and timber, while also needing them ‘untouched’ for other reasons like oxygen, we have to ask ourselves, which is more important? At the current rate, most of the rainforests are being cut down for resources like paper and timber, but less importance is being placed on main resources like oxygen.
“In little as 100 years, we predict that if current deforestation levels proceed, the world's rainforests may be completely gone.” (NASA) Deforestation is the human act of permanently removing large areas of trees by clear cutting or burning them for the purpose of farming large cattle pastures, urbanization, commercial and illegal logging.. It is true that accidental fires and partial lodging are able to dramatically change the structure of a forest (Stuart L. Pimm) however, these casualties do not profoundly impact forests as the damage being done by eradicating entire tree areas for profit. There is an estimated yearly loss of “18 million acres of forest” (as big as the country of Panama) according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.
The plants and animals of the rainforest also provide us with food, fuel, wood, shelter, jobs and medicine. “Imagine losing the potential cure for cancer or AIDS that might have been found in an undiscovered plant from the rainforest.” (Tropical Rainforest Coalition, 1996) “The vine Aucistrocladus koropensis may be effective in treating AIDS; we can only guess what other beneficial plants may be destroyed before we find them.” (Allo, 1996) It is repeated often that the rainforest contains important plants that will cure the worst diseases of today. Although there is scientific proof of its value, the rainforest continues to disappear. “In every sense, a standing rainforest supplies more economic wealth then if it were cleared…yet deforestation continues at an alarming rate.” (Tropical Rainforest Coalition, 1996)
In Tanzania alone, a country in which over 1/3 of its area is forested, it is estimated that 1% of its forests are destroyed annually (FAO, 2013). Of particular concern is the continual des...