...Deforestation Of the Amazon This assignment will be focused on the topic of deforestation in Amazon (mainly located in Brazil). For this topic I picked three articles from newspapers. I decided to choose this topic because I have always been interested in the Amazon and its beauty. It’s still fascinating for me how there is people (tribes) living in the Amazon forest when I cannot picture myself without technology living in a rural environment. I’ve also been always interested in the way they live and communicate among them so the fact that we have deforestation taking place there makes me so sad because it is something so beautiful and unique. The first article is mainly about the consequences of deforestation of the Amazon forest in America. In this article it is stated that a complete deforestation of the Amazon could result in a reduction of twenty per cent of rain and snowfall. This doesn’t sound scary but the real problem is that according to the Princeton University (located in New Jersey) who came up with this report, it also means that this reduction would lead to water and food shortages and great risk of forest fires. The reason behind these shortages is because due to the change that would happen in the snowpack of Sierra Nevada which is the main source of irrigation for California’s Central Valley which consequently would affect the food/water supply not only for California but the entire United States. Also, a naked Amazon could contribute to a weather cycle...
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...2-4-2014 | | Amazon Deforestation | | Deforestation is the loss or destruction of naturally occurring forests. It is primarily due to human activities such as cutting trees for fuel, slash-and-burn agriculture, clearing land for livestock grazing, oil extraction, and many others. Deforestation is considered to be one of the contributing factors to global climate change. It can occur around the world, even though it’s more common in tropical rainforests. Countries with significant deforestation currently or in the recent years include Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, and parts of Eastern Europe. Though deforestation has increased rapidly in the last fifty years, it has been known to be practiced through history. Deforestation is typically done to make more land available for housing and urbanization and cattle ranching. Most of the logging industry that contributes to deforestation is done illegally, as reports from the World Wildlife Fund state. Common methods include burning trees and clear cutting, which is the controversial practice of complete removal of a given area of forest. In Brazil, you will find the Amazon rainforest. It is 5.7 million square kilometers and the largest continuous rainforest in the entire world. Since 1970, one sixth of the Amazon has been cleared mainly for ethanol production and cattle. While techniques like slash-and-burn provide a short term boost in agricultural production, rainforest soil is typically very thin and does not support...
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...DEFORESTATION By: Madan Thapa Economics 2302 Tarrant County College Southeast Abstract This paper gives the definition of deforestation and also shows the effects of it in the environment. This paper talks about the programs that are implemented in three major parts of the world Brazil in South America, Congo Basin in Africa and Indonesia in Asia. A forest is a home of many animals, insects, and plants. Cutting down trees means making all of these creatures homeless and make them extinct. Deforestation means cutting down trees of a forest for other purposes such as to make a farm, for mining, to make roads and for grazing of cattle. Deforestation have a very serious effect on environment, but also people don’t stop cutting down trees because they need money, a space to build their houses, and to make space for agriculture as well. Cutting down tries without care have severe effect in the whole ecosystem. Although the effect of deforestation is high, the products made from the trees are a large part of the economy in both developed and developing countries. The trees are used in building houses, making papers and also for heating and cooking purposes. The cutting down of trees can help in increasing countries GDP for short term, but at the end it causes many devastating effects which leads into decrease in the economy. This can be seen in many developing countries. The major effect of deforestation can be seen in developing countries like Congo, Indonesia, and Brazil...
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...Globalization Project. Brazil is the most forested country thanks to the Amazon and is having a globalization problem with the environment, that can affected part of the world. Globalization is a negative change that we as a humans are creating companies and exchanging culture between countries. Through the years globalization had been impact in Brazil by different ways like the deforestation, health and also the labor. Deforestation has been affected the environment in Brazil through the years. To make space for the companies and the crop they had cut down the trees by the years if we dont take actions is going to decreased the amount of forest in the amazon. First, “Deforestation drops for first time in three years in Brazil's Amazon” sitates“But we reaching the limits.If we do not fulfill international agreements, especially for payments for environmental services, it will...
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...Deforestation Identifying the Problem Deforestation is the removal of related ecosystems or rainforests into ecosystems that are less biodiverse such as croplands, pastures, or plantations. Also, more people need wood to make furniture, houses, and many more everyday things. An estimated 18 million acres of forest are lost each year. Believe it or not but in 100 years if the current rate of deforestation continues all forests will be gone. This will cause terrible effects on the global climate and it will get rid of the majority of plant and animal species on the planet. Deforestation is mainly due to our acts that are totally against the laws of nature. To create new land area for people forests are being destroyed. This trend shows the greed of humans and the increasing needs. There are two different types of deforestation: Clear Cutting and Slash and Burn. Clear Cutting is cutting down a large area of trees that are standing at the same time. Slash and Burn is when people cut down all the foliage in a forest and burn it to access the nutrients. (4) A lot of the countries with high amounts of deforestation are the ones that are developing. For the countries to grow and develop their economies they need access to more resources, employment of people, logging to manufacture more timber products, and agricultural expansion. The solution to getting all these positive things is deforestation. The world’s highest rates of deforestation are happening in the economies...
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...In this scholarly article, the authors discuss the issue of deforestation and how there has been a major increase in the past few decades- focusing on Latin America because it is one of the regions experiencing the highest rates of deforestation. Due to illegal practices and the growing of agricultural crops, a majority of the world’s forested area has been left desolate and arid. Due to new technologies, people can now monitor loss by using remote-sensing technology and analyze patterns in forests. The authors analyze these studies of the tropical rain forest and the problem of deforestation as a whole. As well as, analyzing the problem on a local scale by focusing on Paraguay because the country has an immense amount of biodiversity, which...
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...Stefanie Cruz ANTH 2395 30 April 2013 Globalization and the Brazilian Amazon Containing nearly half of South America’s area and population within its realm, Brazil is considered the continent’s giant. Even more astonishing, it is also the fifth largest country in the same categories worldwide. A country with such colossal parameters no doubt holds within its jungles a vast amount of resources desirable to most of the world, making it a superpower high up in the free trade market empire. However, while it is true that the Brazilian economy is booming, what negative implications does this dependency on the global demand for its commodities have on the very source of these precious resources? The Amazon rainforest, making up fifty-four percent of the world’s rainforests and providing 20 percent of the world’s oxygen (thus acquiring the name “Lungs of the Planet”), is taking the hardest hit. Because some of the highest-grossing commodities are drawn from the soil or consume land masses as time progresses, as the demand for these products gets higher, so does the inevitable environmental degradation of the Brazilian Amazon. Due to an increase in the global demand for Brazilian exports such as soybean and cattle production, there is a rapid expansion into non-protected forests causing irreversible deforestation in the Amazon and displacement of its local tribes. Everyday, the world’s population is faced with new challenges when it comes to the supply and demand for agriculture-based...
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...Deforestation Environmental Science SCI-204 iLab 1 People relay on products from rainforest everyday and never realize it. Today, people around the world use woods that come from rainforest for products like desk, flooring, instruments, and many other products made from exotic woods. “Tropical forests yield some of the most beautiful and valuable woods in the world, such as teak, mahogany, rosewood, balsa, sandalwood and countless lesser-known species.” (Rainforest Alliance, 2014) Many medications are made up from plants and trees that are only found in rainforest. “Some 120 prescription drugs sold worldwide today are derived directly from rainforest plants.” (Talk, 2014) Many food products come from rainforest. Things like coffee beans, bananas, nuts, chocolate, and spices all can be found in the rainforest. “At least 3000 fruits are found in the rainforests; of these only 200 are now in use in the Western World.” (Taylor, 2012) Another product people use everyday is oxygen. The Amazon produces more than 20% of the world’s oxygen. “The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen.” (Taylor, 2012) The next time you inhale, and fill your lungs with life giving oxygen be thankful to the rainforest. The rainforest has helped the world with many products, and all of them are important to everyday life. When you go to your local coffee...
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... Brazil is the both the world’s 5th largest land mass and its 5th largest country in terms of population. Despite its 198.7 million citizens, Brazil’s vast geographical size makes it only the 193rd most densely populated country in the world. Covering this massive landscape are approximately one-third of the world’s remaining rainforests. According to a 2007 study by National Geographic, the rainforests of Brazil are being cleared at a rate of almost 1% per year. Much of the deforestation in Brazil can be attributed to land clearing for commercial, speculative or infrastructure purposes. Whilst deforestation in Brazil is certainly a pressing environmental issue, it has also been highly correlated with the rise in the country’s economic health. The flattening of rainforests has led to an increase in pastureland that has seen the agricultural industry boom over the last 20 years. Deforestation has other economic implications for Brazil. As Western countries are placing ever greater value on forest ‘services’ – climate moderation and biodiversity preservation –it’s possible that protection of Brazil’s rainforests will be sold on the open market in the near future. In terms of basic infrastructure Brazil is experiencing rapid growth and ranks well compared to its South American peers. Brazil still has a ways to go to compete with first world nations. According to WorldBank, 98.7% of the Brazilian population has access to electricity which ranks Brazil 23rd in the...
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...Esteemed Delegates, by the time it takes me to read this speech, an area of Brazil's rain forest larger than 200 football fields will have been destroyed. Brazil has been struggling with deforestation for over 40 years, and the rate in which the Amazon Rainforest is being cut down has only decreased slightly. The Amazon Rainforest is the world’s biggest rainforest still standing, and is responsible for filtering and reprocessing much of the world’s harmful carbon dioxide output. Ironically as rainforest continues to disappear, scientific work from the last two decades has revealed that the critical ties that link the health of rainforests to the health of the rest of the world. The Amazon Rainforest is an asset to human life on Earth, and we...
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...line" or "three pillars" as a method of discovery and the desire to understand sustainability in the balance between the environment, the economy and the society. To illustrate the above, true Amazon deforestation will be used to document the application of systematic thinking to sustainability challenges. This study will show us the link between...
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...5 major causes of Deforestation. 1. Is the expansion of farm land, the need for agriculture and the global demand for food has increased? The need for global commodities has driven large farmers to clear the Forrest at a massive rate. One of the largest commodities the demand has increased for is Palm Oil. This need for Palm oil is so great that it not only has destroyed acres of rain forest but this need is starting to such a strong effect that people families are becoming displaced. 2. Cattle ranchers are becoming a large driving factor of deforestation. The growth in human society is booming. Because of the population of the world there is less and less land for cattle to graze from. The ranchers in Brazil are responsible for” 75% of deforestation in Brazil is linked to the cattle industry, with the cattle herd in the Amazon growing by 140% from 1990 to 2003” http://knowledge.allianz.com/environment/climate_change/?665/The-top-10-drivers-of-deforestation 3. Logging and Timber is becoming as affluent as the drug trade and other black market activities. 80% of the logging in the worlds Rain Forrest is illegal. Due to the large demand for logging many of the countries authorities are taking bribes and letting greed over rule the law. 4. Mining is becoming a major factor in deforestation particularly in developing countries and contents. All though mining isn’t as big of a factor as three logging, cattle ranching and increase in farm land it does still have...
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...We all love a good hamburger or steak, but do you know what it costs the environment to produce the delicious slab of meet on your plate? Did you know that 2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce 1 pound of beef? Or that animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gas emission than the transportation industry? Or that the cattle industry is the leading cause of deforestation? The cattle industry impacts entire landscapes due to the demand for land used for pasture or feed crop production. Thirty percent of the Earth’s habitable surface is directly or indirectly used to produce livestock (Livestock’s Long Shadow, 4). With the world’s population at 7 billion and rapidly increasing, farmers and ranchers are faced with securing enough...
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...Deforestation has become a serious global issue which is resulting in many negative effects such as a loss of biodiversity, land erosion and climate change. Deforestation can be broadly defined as “forest conversion and different types of degradation that reduce forest quality” (Sven, 2000). The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) provides a narrow definition: “depletion of tree crown cover to less than 10% as the deforestation” (FAO, 1993: 10). Forests play a significant role in humanity’s life. According to the World Rainforest Movement (1998), 25% of medicines come from the forests. Moreover, over the past 8000 years, about 5000 square miles of forest has been cut down annually (Rochen, 2008; Seitz, 2008). There are three main causes which lead to the deforestation: logging, overpopulation and road construction. This essay will examine each cause and evaluate the effects. It will begin with discussing the causes of deforestation. Next, it will examine the serious effects. Industrial logging is one of the most significant causes of deforestation. According to Phelps (2005), industrial logging is the clearance of trees for commercial purposes. In West Africa, over the past 40 years, about 2800-3500km² forests have been logged every year (Middleton, 2008). The peasants in Africa play an important role but it is modern industry that cut down so many trees. For example, as Heller (2001) found, every year more than 800 square miles of trees disappear due to the demand of paper...
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...Planned responses ____ Made the argument that deforestation in the Amazon rainforest will help create more jobs and opportunities in Brazil, and also help make more profit for the Nation. I disagree, I believe that in this scenario the negatives will heavily outweigh the positives. The more people these logging companies employ the more land they will deforest, using their highly destructive clear cutting. Many sources say,(including NPR, The Guardian,and Reuters) that diseases ravage the poverty stricken citizens of Brazil. About 72% of deaths are due to non communicable diseases. When you destroy the forest, you may kill plants or animals that could be used to help treat the illnesses. Therefore, I believe that curing and treating diseases should come before easy money....
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