“In every sense, a standing rain forest supplies more economic wealth than if it were cleared … yet deforestation continues at an alarming rate.” (Tropical Rain Forest Coalition, 1996). Rain Forests have played a significant role in shaping modern biology. The destruction of the rain forests will determine the fate of all species humans plants and animals. Many people do not understand the long- term consequences of losing the earth’s rain forests. They have provided all living beings with many natural resources and medicines. Their complete destruction will affect all living conditions due to the influence they have on the climate around the world. Traditionally though, there are three major causes of the destruction to the rain forests: logging, farming and ranching. For years rain forests have provided countries around the world with valuable resources, such as plants for medicine, energy, and minerals. First of all, in America, one fourth of all drugs prescribed have originated from rain forests. SP-303 is a compound extracted from a plant found in South America. Two products have been derived from this compound: Provir and Virend. Provir helps treat respiratory infections in children, while Virend is a topical ointment used to treat the herpes simplex virus. Another product from medicinal plants includes elements that treat addictive painkillers. (Refer to appendix 1) Secondly, in Brazil alone, the rain forest contains 45% of Brazil’s hydroelectric power (“In the Forest”). Thirdly, the soils of the tropical rain forest are typically nutrient poor; all of the nutrients are held in the living organisms. The warm, moist conditions in the forest are ideal for the decomposers breaking down the remains of dead organisms. This quick decay returns the carbon and oxygen in the decomposing material to the air, and returns nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium, and other minerals to the soil. (Refer to appendix 2) In the soil, a thick mat of plant roots and root almost immediately take up the minerals like fungi know as Mycorrhizae (“World Of Biology”). Any nutrients in the soil would be swiftly drifted away by the heavy rainfall. The soils in many areas of the tropical rain forests are laterite soils. These soils are reddish in colour and contain high levels of aluminium and iron, and resist leaching. Nutrients from decomposing organisms... ... middle of paper ... ...a home for people, whether farmer or tribal man. To conclude, the destruction of rain forests has continued to increase over the years; losing approximately 80 acres per minute every day and night (Medine 1). Despite efforts by some governments, national parks, natives and environmentalists the rain forests disappear at alarming rates. The benefits of the destruction will not last forever. Natural resources will begin to shorten, plants that could have been used as cures for certain viruses will have parished in fires or have been chopped. Many of the animals have become extinct or endangered. Pollution will take over and farmers will have had ruined ever last bit of rain forest land left. The destruction of these rain forests occurs simply to improve the lives of people who do not need it for “shot-term economic gains”(Carr 1). As a matter of fact, it will be one of the main causes that destroys mankind. Scientist must find some other resources to save the rain forests. After all the rain forest “is a library for the life sciences, the world’s greatest pharmaceutical laboratory, and a flywheel of climate. It’s a matter of global destiny.” (Carr 7)
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.
Tropical rain forests across the globe are currently threatened by massive deforestation for logging, grazing, and cultivation (Otzen 1993). Such land-use practices alter temperature regimes (Fernandes and Sanford 1995) as well as ground, soil, and surface water, flora, fauna, and microorganisms (Otzen 1993). These changes may result in a loss of soil organic matter, a decrease in soil fertility (Garcia-Oliva et al. 1994, Tissen et al. 1994), severe soil erosion (Otzen 1993), and changes in soil structure and chemistry (Fernandes and Sanford 1995, Sollins et al. 1995, Montgagnini and Sancho 1994.)
Nevertheless there are still huge advantages of deforestation. But does this mean 2.47 acres of rainforest should be destroyed every single second? This mean every second of the day size of two football field is lost forever. Rainforests are the most productive and most complex ecosystems on Earth. Amazon rainforest alone produces 20% of the world’s oxygen.
The Web. 19 Nov 2013. The "Rainforest Destruction." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies -.
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.
Although the forests provide human benefits such as paper, too much of the forests are being cut down to satisfy human needs. “Some 46-58 million square miles of forest are lost each year- equivalent to 36 f...
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 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.
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
There are several facts and statistics that are known about the ever-important rain forests that may be shocking to the newly interested researcher, like myself. Tropical rain forests are located in warm and humid places near the earth's equator. The daily temperature averages in at seventy-five degrees, with twelve hours of sun shining everyday in the tropics. Average annual rainfall is between eighty and one hundred inches, while some forests receive four hundred inches of rain a year. "Occupying no more than seven percent of all the space on earth, they harbor at least half-possibly seventy-five percent -of all forms of life" (Stone 75). This makes it apparent that the importance of rain forests directly effects the world's ever-expanding human population and how we are linked to the massive pressures on tropical rain forests.
Effective ecosystem management will maintain the continuation of species of plants and animals as well as variation of genetics. Malaysia positioned in the humid tropical landscape making it covered with extraordinary variety of flora and fauna. This landscape is known as the tropical rainforest had evolved over million years ago comprises from the smallest microscopic organism like bacteria to large species as such mammals, reptiles and birds (Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia, 2013). Other than that, forest plays a vital role in controlling the humidity, temperature and precipitation on earth. They absorb carbon dioxide and thus maintaining the purity of air and controlling atmospheric pollution. In addition, forest host major reservoirs of minerals, metal, biomass and land for agriculture expansion. However, conflicts over these resources had contributed to massive deforestation with improper management (Wolvekamp et al. 1999). Since the agricultural and industrial era began, the rate of ecological destruction had far exceeded the rate of ecological repair. If limitless greediness towards clearance of tropical forest is continuing in Malaysia, it is possible that in a blink of eye humans will lose their forest. Moreover, deforestation provokes irreversible damage and doing reforestation will not entirely reverse the effect. Despite the different ecological, political and economic circumstances, it is easy to justify the common causes of forest destruction, the lost of livelihood and culture. However,...
The main causes of deforestation are agriculture, logging, and over-population. Subsistence farming is responsible for 48% of deforestation; commercial agriculture is responsible for 32% of deforestation; logging is responsible for 14% of deforestation and fuel wood removals make up 5% of deforestation. Millions of hectares of rainforests are being destroyed in by logging. With all of these causes about 12 to 15 million hectares of forest are lost each year. In Central America, 40% of all the rainforest...
Industrial logging is the main cause of forest loss throughout the tropics. It is the starting point of a process leading to the forests' final destruction and substitution by agricultural crops, cattle raising or monoculture tree plantations. These are well known facts supported by more than sufficient evidence.
According to National Geographic 2014, Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Deforestation occurs all around the world and tropical rainforests are primarily targeted. Our world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation. Currently or in the recent past countries with significant deforestation include Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, parts of Africa and Eastern Europe. Deforestation affects our planet and everyone in many ways. According to LiveScience 2013, seventy percent of the world’s plants and animals live in forests and are losing their habitats to deforestation. Loss of habitat can lead to species extinction. Our world has lost so many species of plants and animals in last couple of decades. This has negative consequences for medicinal research and local populations who rely on the animals and plants in the forests for hunting and medicine. In some regions of the world deforestation can cause floods, when it rains trees absorb and store large amount of water with the help of its roots. But when they are cut down the flow of water is disrupted w...
Today deforestation is all over the world and it is increasing. Our forests are disappearing at a very fast rate. Most people, when they think of deforestation, think of the Amazon Rain Forest. However, this is not the only place that deforestation occurs. Deforestation also occurs in East Asia, Indonesia and the Congo. China has only 2% of its forests left. Some of the last of the world’s rainforests are in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Amazon. Deforestation is a big problem. It not only affects the world around us, bu...