Environment Essay: The Destruction of the Rain Forests and the Earth

Rain forests are disappearing at a drastic rate. Industry is usually at the root of this destruction of one of natures resources. Land is needed for highways, agriculture, livestock, or to expand a city. Other times the trees themselves are needed by lumber companies of countries that themselves lack to forests necessary to meet their countries demands such as Japan. Environmentalists are deplored by this destruction refuting that bio-diversity is being lost, an ancient way of life is being lost as "people of the forest" are being forced out of their homes, new diseases are being stirred up and that the earth is a living organism and man is behaving like a virus.

Some third world countries clear cut the land with a slash and burn technique to build roads or highways such as the massive Brazilian superhighway. This highway stretches to one end of Brazil to the other. However as with many of these roads it leads into the jungle and just ends. Billions and billions of trees and animals are killed for these roads to nowhere for the sake of progress.

Simple farmers have always cleared the land for their crops. This damage is only minute compared to that of what happens when large plantations are planted. Such companies as Coca-Cola clear hundreds of acres to grow orange crops. These oranges are then sent back to the United States to be used in Minute Maid orange juice. Coca-Cola isn't alone, Tropicana, Ocean Spray, and most concentrates contain rain forest oranges. The problem with using this soil for agriculture is that all the nutrients are depleted within one to two years and is dead from that time on. The land is dead for centuries to come.

Other times the land is needed for large herds if cattle. Without trees to protect the land from erosion from the cows, this land is trampled continuously with the cattle consuming all of the grasses as well. Once it rains the soil is further eroded away leaving the land barren and dead with more trees needed to be cut down so that the process could start all over again. The sad thing is that this is cone to cut livestock prices. Such restaurants as Burger king use rain forest beef since it is so cheap. Burger King is the better known of all rain forest beef users but not the only one.