During my recent holiday to Brazil, I spent a week living in an eco-lodge within the Amazon rainforest. I learnt about the species of wildlife and people that live within the jungle, and rely on it to survive. Following the holiday I have become fascinated about the destruction of it, and why this has been happening. This essay will discuss the impacts of deforestation, what is causing this increasing issue and the solutions to keep the rainforest alive.
The Amazon comprises of 2.1 million square miles, Ferro, S (2015), it houses the world largest carbon sink converting harmful emissions into clean oxygen, Natives have also began to discover new cures for many illnesses from the extensive range of different plants, Bartschi, A (2015)
Despite the benefits, deforestation remains high, Butler, R (2006) estimates that since 1978, 780 000 square km of the rainforest has been lost equating to 20% of the entire forest. If nothing is done to prevent this, the rainforest could disappear in the next 100 years or so.
The increasing rate of deforestation in the Amazon causes negative effects for the world as a whole. Bradford, A (2015), 300 billion tonnes of carbon is stored in trees around the world, with more being cut down and burnt to clear way for land, carbon is
…show more content…
Dickinson, M (2015) explains how illegal logging is also causing a rise in timer prices therefore impacting badly on law abiding companies, damaging economies as a result. Corrupt IBAMA officials were caught attempting to export endangered hardwoods to foreign markets, countering the solutions that have been made by the Brazilian government, Wallace, S
...ction. Lots of indians die because of the Amazon getting destroyed. The climate is changing because of so much of the disappearing of the rainforest. In every 40 years 20 percent of the Amazon is completely gone. Sadly in about 30 - 40 years we will not have a Amazon rainforest. People are clearing out the Amazon because they want to grow plants and food but we used to have a lot of food but because of the Amazon getting destroying the we don’t have as much, and people want to clear out land for plants and foods but because of destruction the soil will dry out and we will have no more exzotic fruits. As you can see the Amazons environmental problems are devastating.
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 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.
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 .
Brazil, a country of natural resources running everywhere needing saving, destroyed everyday by humankind. with 2/3’s of the Amazon forest home in brazil, we must keep an eye on how it is being sustained, what is being done to keep it safe and when we believe we will be able to not only stop deforestation, but grow back the earth’s creatures natural habitats. The sheer beauty of our world is worth trying to help our ecosystem and helping the environment and ensuring its sustainability.
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.
Therefore, a large amount of trees were cut down and led to forest destruction. People have done these kinds of activities for many years and these deforestation activities have brought about a lot of permanent and long term issues. Although the society has started to consider the problem of deforestation, it is not easy to solve the issues completely. Land desertification can be a huge area and it almost cannot be controlled. In addition, it is not only threatening the people and animals in the Amazon, the world is also threatened by deforestation.
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.
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.
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 ...
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.
This is alarming since recent data indicates these enormous forests are land-dwelling carbon absorbers that could help to slow worldwide climate alteration. The United Nations ' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates “eighteen million acres of forests have been destroyed worldwide;” and NASA forecasts “that if current deforestation rates are not reduced, rainforests could become entirely eradicated in a century.” The nations with substantial deforestation are Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, Africa (The Democratic Republic of Congo included), and remote areas of Eastern Europe. Indonesia, the country with the greatest deforestation within the last century, has lost approximately forty million acres of indigenous
Fearnside, Philip M. "Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia: History, Rates, and Consequences." Conservation Biology 19.3 (2005): 680-688. Print.
Deforestation is the amputation of trees from forest areas more swiftly than they can be replanted or regenerate naturally. The fact that trees play an incredibly momentous part in stabilising climate, atmospheric composition and soil structure, removing trees rapidly becomes a major problem. There are numerous reasons behind the felling of trees by mankind. The Amazon basin is a prime example of humans exploiting rainforests. Within this tropical rainforest lie a vast variety of tree species, with many uses, giving humans even more reason to exploit this area.
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.