The beautiful Amazon rainforest “covers a vast area of more than two and one-half million square kilometers” (The Amazon: Its Developers, Destroyers). It is home to a wide variety of plants and animals, not found anywhere else in the world. Scientists believe that there are still many yet to be found. The Amazon is also home to many tribes who have been there for a long period of time. These tribes accommodate medicine men who know the secrets of the rainforest and the healing properties not yet discovered by scientists. The mysterious Amazon is a long-time treasure that needs to be preserved, because there is so much still to be discovered. However, everyday these opportunities are being taken away from future generations because of the human influence on the Amazon rainforest. Future cures for diseases and the discovery of new life in the Amazon are being destroyed more and more every day. Human influence is negatively effecting the Amazon rainforest.
Although they are many negative effects of humans in the Amazon, there are also some positive ones. Tourism is one way humans positively impact the Amazon rainforest. Tourism increases economic support for the country or nearby city. It may also to increase public appreciation of the environment and to spread awareness of environmental problems when it brings people into closer contact with the environment. Humans are also organizing groups to preserve and protect certain species living in the Amazon rainforest. Scientists are using plants from the Amazon to help cure diseases. They have also discovered they can do this through rainforest insects, and can early detect certain virus to create a cure for them. Ranchers raise cattle for the growing beef demand in America and other cou...
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The rapid spread of globalization has increased economic and social benefits for the United States in the diversification of products for trade, yet Pinchbeck points out its dangers. (Claim). Pinchbeck illustrates the negative impact of globalization with multiple references that include the Amazonian rainforest’s “systematic destruction” and the disappearance of “vast treasures of botanical knowledge and linguistic and spiritual traditions” (148, 163). (Evidence) Abundant research readily discusses the devastating impacts of globalization. (Warrant). Deforestation of the Amazonian rainforest has serious implications beyond the local disruption of the natural food chain network as it contributes to soil erosion, species extinction, air pollution, and climate change (Wright, LaRocca & DeJongh; Hahn et al.; Medvigy et al.). Globalization accelerates the loss of languages al...
The world’s demand for cheap processed beef has given Brazil the rationale to convert valuable Amazon rainforest to low yield pastureland. Since 2004, Brazil has become the world’s largest exporter of beef, controlling 41% of the global meat exports (Valdes). Most of the beef produced on cattle ranches in Brazil is exported to countries like the UK and Russia (Valdes). Beef exports have elevated cattle ranching to the leading cause of deforestation in Brazil as it is now responsible for 60% of the deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon (BBC).
Since the beginning of the human race mankind has depended on the natural resources in their environment for survival. They utilized the available flora to nourish their body, heal their wounds, comfort their ailments and to create products to ease their daily lives. Many of the same plants utilized thousands of years ago by the indigenous people have been integrated into modern day medicines. The scientific interest and knowledge of plants for nourishment, healing, and practical uses is called ethnobotany.
The research paper will discuss and consider the long term negative effect in the Amazon rainforest which is caused by deforestation. First, the paper will present the cause and effect of land deforestation. Another consideration is endangered species extinction that leads to effect the Amazon’s biodiversity. Finally, the paper will focus on how climate transformation and global warming affect the Amazon and what should people do in order to save the forests and solve those problems.
McNeil WH. Plagues and peoples: a natural history of infectious diseases. New York: Anchor Press,1976.
...ction. Lots of indians die because of the Amazon getting destroyed. The climate is changing because of so much of the disappearing of the rainforest. In every 40 years 20 percent of the Amazon is completely gone. Sadly in about 30 - 40 years we will not have a Amazon rainforest. People are clearing out the Amazon because they want to grow plants and food but we used to have a lot of food but because of the Amazon getting destroying the we don’t have as much, and people want to clear out land for plants and foods but because of destruction the soil will dry out and we will have no more exzotic fruits. As you can see the Amazons environmental problems are devastating.
The Amazon Rain Forest Is in Danger of Being Destroyed" by Devadas Vittal. Rain Forests. HaiSong Harvey, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2002. Reprinted from Devadas Vittal, Introduction: What Is the Amazon Rainforest? Internet: http://www.homepages.go.com/homepages/d/v/i/dvittal/amazon/intro.html, November 1999, by permission of the author. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010021212&mode=view
The Brazilian Rainforest is one of the most unique, vast, and diverse regions of the world. To get a general idea of the diversity of the Rainforest, it makes up a total of one-third of the world forests (more than four million square kilometers), it contains half of the total number of named species in the world (eighty-thousand plant species, 1,500 fish species, and one-forth of the 8,600 bird species), and is the world largest holder of genes (Library 138-139). To say the least, the Brazilian Rainforest is one of the most important natural resources we, as humans, know. It would seem that this knowledge, alone, would also make the Brazilian Rainforest one of the most protected land areas on Earth as well. However, the situation is quite the opposite. The Brazilian Rainforest has been greatly degraded by deforestation since the 1960 , which has led to numerous negative effects both environmentally and socially. This paper introduces the events that opened the door to deforestation, the most immediate causes and effects of deforestation in the Brazilian Rainforest, and my two-part solution to the problem of deforestation.
Agriculture is an absolute necessity for human life on Earth to continue. There are too many people on the planet for existence as hunters and gatherers to work anymore. That said, it must be realized that concessions must be made to allow such food growth and production to occur. But this does not mean that another important element of life on Earth can be destroyed for it. Unfortunately, that is indeed what is occurring, at an alarming rate. The rainforests of the planet are dwindling as the land they belong on is used more and more for agriculture, all over the world. In the Amazon, ,the most commonly detrimental agricultural practice is the technique of land clearing known as Slash and Burn.
Farmers are the agents of more Rainforest destruction than any other factor. Farmers in rainforest countries are often po...
Project Amazonia: Threats - Deforestation. MIT. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 31 Mar. 2011.
... laws, eradicate corruption and try to strictly secure whole Amazon with strict punishments for criminals. To be capable to do this, there must be vast advertisement program, which may interest a lot of people. There are limitations in research such as real condition and a number of indigenous people, because it is estimated that about 50 indigenous tribes are totally isolated from civilization and there are limitations in research in real condition of food and raw materials in supply chain of large companies. This is because any shoe, portion of beef or timber materials that we purchase every day can be illegally exported from Brazil and there must be strict control of global organizations. In addition, there are recommendations of subsequent surveys in improving agriculture and finding more sustainable nutrients which would allow using lands for longer period.
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 Amazon Rainforest is the world's largest tropical rainforest that we have today on our planet. It covers a wide range expanding almost entirely across from East to West of South America. It is most famous for its broad biodiversity and includes the famous Amazon River that is home to rare and diverse species. Today, the Amazon Rainforest is under threat of complete deforestation and has greatly lost more than half of its tropical rainforest due to cattle ranching, soy bean farming, sugar cane plantations, palm oil and biofuel agriculture. The indigenous people are doing their best to fight against the government to protect their land and conserve the rainforest but without capital finance, it is seeming to be an impossible project.
Geoffrey Garnet and Edward C. Holmes. “The Ecology of Emerging Infectious Disease.” Bioscience. Vol. 46 Issue 2 (1996).