Amazon Rainforest Deforestation

The Amazon Rainforest is environmentally harmed through development through means of extraction of its natural resources such as lumber, cattle ranching and agricultural practices. South America and particularly Brazil’s Amazon is environmentally exploited by multinational companies and the global north. With this the environmental consequences as well as the negative social, economic and political impacts should be considered. The sociopolitical variables relative to the aforementioned need to be evaluated. The Amazon Rainforest is a significant global environmental issue, as the impact on the natural environment is reflected from human activities. With this we consider development and environmental politics relative to the Amazon Rainforest.

However it’s current state is impacted by significant extraction and use of it’s natural resources. Development and subsequent deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is a significant environmental topic of significance and needs consideration. The Forest has been depleted, “Since 1988, Brazilians have cleared more than 153,000 square miles of Amazonian rain forest, an area larger than Germany...Brazil has helped feed the growing global demand for commodities, such as soybeans and beef but the environmental price has been steep”(Tollefson). Practices such as cattle ranching and agriculture are primary development practices which are contributing to the continual deforestation of the Amazon Forest. The significance in understanding the environmental impacts on the Amazon Forest is imperative as the biodiversity and ecosystems are at risk as development continues. Moreover the continued extraction of the Amazon Forest’s resources is an ethical dilemma as future generations are at risk of being deprived from the quality of life their predecessors experienced. With this we analyze developmental practices in the region and consider policies surrounding the land use and extraction of Amazonian resources. Moreover it is important to evaluate the continued development of the Amazon Forest resources for economic gain, sustainability in question and at what cost can such practices

With this Individuals perform local and regional survey’s as well as use empirical knowledge in order to estimate the vast number of species inhabiting the Amazon ranging from 3 million to 100 million species. With the uncertainty of just how many species are accounted for and the impacts made upon the ecosystem, some ecologists differ with respect to the harmful impacts of biodiversity. Some of the assumptions made regarding this uncertainty include estimates of potential future extinctions as mere estimated guesses, as well as an impracticality to apply an ‘island extinction model’ to a vastly large ecosystem such as that of the Amazon. This school of thought suggests that species loss is proportional to its given surrounding area. Islands provide a greater hostile environment, as they are surrounded by water and therefore certain needs are limited. In contrast, the Amazon forest provides a large ecosystem and variety of resources, therefore mass species extinction is not a legitimate threat. Despite this conflicting perspective the fact remains that the Amazon forest is continuing to be developed, with natural resources extracted and the ecosystems disruption at an exponentially increasing rate, the risk of species diminished resources may result in displacement or