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Deforestation and its adverse consequences essay written update
Environmental concerns with deforestation
The Impact of Deforestation on the Environment
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The Amazon is a vast region spanning across six South America countries Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela (Walker, & Cesareo 2014). The Amazon is one of the most developed rainforest of anywhere in the world. Over two-thirds of all the fresh water and 20% of the earth’s oxygen are produced in the Amazons (wcupa.edu). Despite the vital role of the Amazons, carless practices continue the rapid deforestation of the ecosystem. (Mainville, et al, 2006). The main causes of deforestation include unsustainable logging, agriculture, invasive species, fire, fuel wood gathering, and livestock grazing (Thompson, et al. 2013). The widespread of this issue is of importance in global policy processes, which deals with biodiversity, climate change, and forest management (Thompson, et al. 2013). The Ecuador has some of the highest rates of deforestation; an estimated 3% of the land is yearly destroyed (Mecham, 2001). “The Ecuador’s interandean basin native vegetation has been practically eliminated since colonial times, replaced by crops, pasture, towns and cities, and exotic tree plantations. This area suffers severe soil erosion problems even today” (Mecham, 2001). The continuum of deforestation issues continues to destroy the ecological habitat of the Amazonian Indians (Mecham, 2001). In the area of Napo River Valley West of the Ecuadorian Amazon, deforestation has resulted in an abrupt end of harmony between man and nature (Mainville, et al., 2006). The desire for economic profits continues to fuel the already alarming rate of the Amazon. According to the Rain Forest foundation, “When Texaco entered the Ecuadorean Oriente in, 1967; the area was considered the most biodiverse place on Earth. Since then, more than 20 billi...
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... https://worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation
Collins, J (2001) Soil Erosion retrieved by http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/envfacts/facts/erosion.htm
Pimentel, D., Harvey, C., Resosudarmo, P., Sinclair, K., Kurz, D., McNair, M., & Blair, R. (1995). Environmental and economic costs of soil erosion and conservation benefits. Science-AAAS-Weekly Paper Edition, 267(5201), 1117-1122.
San Sebastián, M., Játiva, R., & Goicolea, I. (2000). Epidemiology of malaria in the Amazon basin of Ecuador. Retrieved by http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49892000000100004
THE AMAZON BASIN: Amazing Facts and Figures Retrieved February 27, 2014, from http://www.wcupa.edu/aceer/amigos/cd/rainforest.htm
What’s driving it? Oil in the Rainforest Retrieved February 27, 2014 from http://www.rainforestfoundation.org/deforestation-what’s-driving-it-oil-rainforest
Wright, David, Heather LaRocca, and Grant DeJongh. "Global Problems." The Amazonian Rainforest: Forest to Farmland? The University of Michigan, 2007. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
This policy memo addresses the development and expansion of the cattle ranching industry in Brazil, which has contributed to the mass deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon in the last 40 years. It exposes the regional and global consequences to deforestation and provides strategies for the Brazilian government to sustainably manage cattle ranching industries while protecting the future of the Amazon. The rainforest ecosystem is an immense reserve of natural recourses that is far more valuable than the beef produced on Brazilian cattle ranches. Not only does the rainforest create habitat for up to 65% of the world’s biodiversity, but when harvested sustainably, it provides humans with an abundance of spices, foods, oils, medicines and vital research areas (NEWMAN).
Tropical rainforests are an extremely unique and diverse ecosystem that are located around the earth’s equator. They once covered roughly 7% of the world, but due to human encroachment that has dwindled to just 2%. It is a highly moisture rich environment that typically receives anywhere between 60 and 400 inches of rainfall annually and average humidity ranges from 70 to 90%. A high average year round temperature, coupled with the moisture rich environment, creates an ecosystem that allows for a level of biodiversity seen nowhere else on the planet. This also results in a specific type of layering design that allows the system to survive and recycle its nutrients.
The Amazon Rain Forest crosses several national boundaries in South America, although the majority of it is located in Brazil. It covers over 3,562,000 acres, making it the largest in the world. But globally, over 138,600 acres of rain forest are lost each year to deforestation, 50,000 of those in Brazil alone (Holdsforth), and the world's rain forests are quickly disappearing. Deforestation in the Amazon occurs primarily for three reasons: clear-cutting, fragmentation, and edge effects.
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
There are many rainforests in the world but one of the biggest one is the Amazon rainforest, which is located in the northern half of South America and lies in the countries of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia. The Amazon also lies in between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. The size of the Amazon resembles the size of the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. Since this rain forest lies next to the Equator, the climate is warm and humid. The average temperature is in between sixty-eight to ninety- three degrees. The Amazon has two seasons but each one is six months each. They are classified as the wet season and the dry season. The wet season occurs between December to May and the dry season occurs between June to November. The average rainfall is fifty to two hundred and sixty inches per year. The forest floor only gets up to two to five percent of sunlight since the canopy blocks the sunlight from getting to the forest floor. The Amazon rain forest got the nickname, the world’s pharmacy, because many medicines have been found in the tree bark, the tree’s leaves, and other parts of the trees.
In today's hectic world people work longer hours and utilize more technology and energy more than ever. The impact that this is having on the environment is substantial in both negative and positive ways. It is hard to deny the benefits modern technology has produced for the world, in industry and in everyday life. With more and more technological breakthroughs, there have been many positive ecological impacts, but the negative impacts are almost overwhelming. A Perfect example would be the deforestation of our rain forests.
Deforestation is fast becoming one of the world’s worst environmental/geographical occurring disasters known to mankind, and is due to humankind’s greed, ignorance and carelessness when considering the future of our environment.
Nowadays deforestation is the one of the most important and controversial environmental issues in the world. Deforestation is cutting down, clearing away or burning trees or forests. Particularly tropical rainforests are the most waning type of forests because of its location in developing countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, India, central African countries and Brazil. Deforestation rate in those regions is high enough to worry about, because of large economic potential of forest areas. As the result of causes such as agriculture land expansion, logging for timber, fire blazing and settling infrastructure there might be serious impacts in future. For instance, extinction of endemic species of animals and plants which will be feral, increase of greenhouse gas emissions which may lead to global warming and consecutive catastrophes, destruction of home for indigenous residents which is considered as violation of human rights. Some people can argue with these drawbacks telling that deforestation have more valuable benefits such as growth of economics, production of food and providing better opportunities for life for poor families. However, these benefits are quite temporary and government of that countries and world organisations tries to halt deforestation proposing several solutions. Deforestation problem is especially acute in the Brazilian Amazon, where its rate is much high comparing with other regions. This paper will describe world-wide rainforests, causes and effects of deforestation, and evaluate possible solutions of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
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 planet's 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. In its current state, the Amazon is losing land equal to the size of the state of Delaware every year.
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.
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.
In the tropics of the globe, life is supported for millions of acres that is essential for the world climate in a dense, tall jungle called rainforests. Vegetation, animals, people, and anything living and breathing on this planet depend on rainforests to do their job. They provide the stability of natural atmosphere; they provide natural and reusable resources; they prevent many natural disasters and help filter water. There are countless benefits that the rainforest gives us. The forest community, however, is rapidly shrinking in the South America Amazon Basin, which encompass some or parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.
Deforestation is the amputation of trees from forest areas more swiftly than they can be replanted or regenerate naturally. The fact that trees play an incredibly momentous part in stabilising climate, atmospheric composition and soil structure, removing trees rapidly becomes a major problem. There are numerous reasons behind the felling of trees by mankind. The Amazon basin is a prime example of humans exploiting rainforests. Within this tropical rainforest lie a vast variety of tree species, with many uses, giving humans even more reason to exploit this area.
It is estimated that within 100 years there will be no rainforests. Throughout the evolution of mankind humans have been populating all over the world and since they are evolving they had the eager to civilize thus land space being needed in order to do so which causes what will be the most devastating word in the next 10-20 years called deforestation. Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land for use such as arable land, pasture, urban use, logged area, or wasteland. Rainforests today are disappearing at an alarming rate as a result of deforestation and this have been causing the distraction of our planet which is why it should stop.