Tropical rainforests are an extremely unique and diverse ecosystem that are located around the earth’s equator. They once covered roughly 7% of the world, but due to human encroachment that has dwindled to just 2%. It is a highly moisture rich environment that typically receives anywhere between 60 and 400 inches of rainfall annually and average humidity ranges from 70 to 90%. A high average year round temperature, coupled with the moisture rich environment, creates an ecosystem that allows for a level of biodiversity seen nowhere else on the planet. This also results in a specific type of layering design that allows the system to survive and recycle its nutrients. The top layers are called the canopy and the emergent layer and they for The dense levels of vegetation absorb tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and help slow down the rate of climate change that the planet is experiencing. This process also produces high levels of oxygen that help to support life around the world. Coupled with the high levels of rainfall that benefit the water cycle, the rainforests are an integral part of the many systems that exist. These forests contain a wide variety of plants that a source of different chemicals that are used to create medicines. The degradation of these areas could potentially lead to the loss of medicines that could cure some of the deadliest diseases and illnesses that 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
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 .
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.
A tropical rainforest is a humid, moist biome located near the Earth’s equator, with the world’s largest rainforest being in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa. Rainforests collect from 60 to 160 inches of rainfall throughout the year, with the constant humidity and moisture within the rainforest creates the perfect biome for tropical condition thriving plants and animals. One of the world’s best environments for biodiversity are the tropical rainforests, they contain 15 million species of plants and animals. The humid conditions of the tropical rainforests are ideal for bacteria and other microorganisms, these organisms remain active for the whole year being at their optimum temperature they break down, decompose the forest floors matter for example decayed plants and other dead animals. In other biomes such as Deciduous forests decomposed leaf litter on the forests floor contributes to the nutrients of the forests soil whereas a Tropical rainforest grows so rapidly that the plants consume the broken down litter. This result in the plants retaining most of the nutrients rather than the sold allowing them to grow larger than the deciduous forests, any nutrients that are absorbed by the soil is leaked out by the amount of rainfall leaving the soil unfertile and acidic.
Now is a critical time to address the issue of deforestation. Around the world forests are logged for timber and paper pulp. South America contains a large amount of mahogany and rosewood—highly coveted types of wood—within the Amazon basin. Forests are also cleared to make room for the planting of cash crops, such as coffee and soy, as well as livestock farms. After only a few years, overuse of these lands for crops typically causes soil erosion that quickly turns deforested regions into wastelands. Deforestation is responsible for 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than all emissions all motorized transportation added together. The destruction of forests does not just threaten our climate; it threatens the livelihoods of billions of people that rely on forests for food and economic activities. The modern world relies on rainforests more than for the well-known reason. People receive many of their fruits and medicines from plant species that survive solely within the heart of a rainforest. Let’s not forget that forests also serve as habitats to wildlife a...
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.
Almost half of the world's species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to rainforest deforestation.
Furthermore, the tropical rainforest is a hot, moist ecosystem located near earth’s equator. The world’s greatest tropical rainforests are in South America, Africa, and South East Asia. They receive from 60-160 inches of rain per year that is fairly even. The weather and temperature makes this ecosystem suitable environment for many different plants and animals. Tropical rainforests have the most biodiversity in all ecosystems. Over 15 million species of plants and animals live there. In the tropical rainforest, plants grow so fast that they rapidly consume the nutrients from the decomposed leaf litter. Some examples of animals in this ecosystem are birds, butterflies, sloths, jaguars, worms, frogs, and toads.
Environmental issues affect every life on this planet from the smallest parasite to the human race. There are many resources that humans and animal needs to survive; some of the most obvious resources come from the forests. Forests make up a large percentage of the globe. The forests have global implications not just on life but on the quality of it. Trees improve the quality of the air that species breath, determine rainfall and replenish the atmosphere. The wood from the forests are used everyday form many useful resources. Moreover, thinning the forests increases the amount of available light, nutrients and water for the remaining trees. Deforestation (forest thinning) is one of the most critical issues of environmental problems that are occurring today.
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 rainforest is a very tropical region. It is full of water and many exotic plants and animals. This making the climate very humid and clearly rainy. Though the rainforest is next to the equator making it very hot, it receives about 80 inches of rain per year. Though with the rain, on average the rainforest starts around 80 degrees and rises throughout the day. These factors, the rain and high temperatures, are what makes the rainforest so humid. They’re located in a few different continents. Them being, Africa around Madagascar and scattered islands, Australia near New Guinea and other Pacific Islands as well as, Asia, Southeast Asia near Indomalayan, India and, Sri Lanka, in South America Neotropical and lastly, in West Africa . This placing
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.
The Impacts of Deforestation in the Tropical Rainforest Deforestation is having an effect on all tropical rainforests. This is not just negative effects but also some very positive effects from the deforestation of the rainforests. From deforestation there are many problems that can be caused by this, environmental, social, economic and political issues all from the destruction of the rainforests across the world. There has been dramatic deforestation across the world for some time now and many of the Earths natural forests have been cleared or degraded so that they can be used for other purposes. Tropical forests are being destroyed at an ever-increasing rate.
The Causes and Effects of Deforestation in Tropical Rainforests Tropical rainforests are the most alive places on earth. Covering less than 12% of the land's surface, the rainforests are home to more than half of all living species (Lewis, 4). 90% of all non-primates reside in tropical rainforests. Two-thirds of known plants, 40% birds of prey, and 80% of all insects are found only in tropical rainforests. Of the 2.5 to 5 million animals species thought to exist, only about one-half have been identified to date.
At least two-thirds of the total plant species grows in the rainforests. The hot and humid climate of rainforest is very supportive to the growth of plants and animals. It is believed that there will be many millions of species of plants, insects and micro-organisms thriving in rainforest which have not been discovered still. The main benefit of rainforests is that they supply much of the earth’s oxygen. They absorb carbon dioxide produced by man-made activities and produce oxygen on which all humans and animals survive. They also contain millions of species of exotic plants and animals. Rainforest supplies many things essential for the survival of human and other living