Califorestation In The Amazon Rainforest Essay

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. According to Anton Paviovich Chekhov, “A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life; like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on Earth is inconceivable without trees. Forests create climate, climate influences people’s character, and so on and so forth. There can neither be civilization nor happiness if forests crash down under the ax, if the climate is harsh and severe, if people are also harsh and severe. …. What a terrible future!”

The Amazon rainforest is a nonrenewable resource. This means that it is being used up, or in this case, cleared, faster than it can be replaced. Humans clear the trees for lumber and wood. They use the wood to generate electricity for or from their power plants and other industries. Trees are being cut down and wasted every day due to the undying needs of humans for lumber and wood. According to Cree, “Only after the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last river has been poisoned. Only after the last fish has been caught. Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.” (amazon rainforest.com) Brazil holds about one third of the world’s remaining rainforests, including a majority of the Amazon rainforest. If we continue to clear land from the Amazon rainforest, the Amazon will go into existence in the next one hundred years. Once a forest is gone, you can’t replace it that easily or quickly. It will take hundreds of years, if not