The battle for the Amazon rainforest is a daunting task. It's a long going battle between miners, loggers, and developers against the indigenous people who call it home. It's a battle like any battle in a war; it affects lives, families, the economy, politics, and the environment amongst other things. The main topic of this debate is the effects of the Amazon deforestation on the people who live in it, this will be the focus of this research paper. In this paper, I will discuss the history, causes, effects and solutions for the Amazon rainforest deforestation.
Needless to say, the environmental problems of today started a long time ago, before automobiles, electricity, and the Industrial Revolution. From ancient times to present
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Along with the loggers come miners seeking gold and other minerals found in the forest. Miners come in after the loggers to further strip the land of valuable resources. Mining also carries with it it's own ecological problems. For example, while mining, many of the deposits are returned to the river, which normally don't go there, like mercury for example. These rivers have become poisoned and polluted in some parts, killing fish and exposing those that live on and live off the river to diseases which they have no immunity to.
Loggers and miners combined have caused many problems, one of which is increased violence. Indigenous people are killed defending their land, and in turn, loggers and miners are killed in retaliation. Also, the loggers and miners disrupt the serenity of everyday life in the rainforest. "Many of the tribes leave their ancestral homes to flee the noise and disruption of the miners (Smith 66). Obviously these loggers and miners must not think of the areas they invade and destroy as a home. Invading the rainforest is no different than bulldozers leveling out a suburb in the Twin Cities. Although the location and settings are different between the rainforest and American suburbs, they do share a very important similarity. That is, in these communities live human beings with minds, families, and feelings.
Loggers and miners deserve the criticism they're getting, but
Researches show that the Amazon deforestation is a constant concern for authorities all over the world. Nowadays, more than 337.000 squared miles of forest were lost. This represents all France territory inside. The impact is huge, degradation in rivers, because the forest uses the same biome that the water, until death of plants that use similar symbiosis. With this in mind is possible to realize the damage to Indians tribes that live in that region. The Amazon still has approximately 60 ethnic groups of Indians, what represent more than 120.000 Indians in that place. This explanation puts in evidence why can be significantly important worry with the Amazon, in order to avoid future problems for all the
Deforestation poses an alarming threat to Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, and it has been a serious concern for over 40 years. For thousands of years, the abundant, valuable resources in the Amazon were familiar only to the indigenous people of the region. In the 1500’s, before European colonization of Brazil, there were an estimated six to nine million individuals part of different cultures that made up a rich Amazonian society (“History”). Surrounded by the luxuriant rainforest and its natural resources, these indigenous tribes were able to thrive by utilizing the resources without destroying their habitat. After European emigration, the government of Brazil exploited the value of the Amazon’s resources in the twentieth century. In the 1970’s, the Brazilian government discovered the “untapped source of boundless potential” hiding in the Amazon and began using incentives to persuade settlers to develop its resources (Casey). Once economists realized the importance of the resources found within the rainforest, European pioneers set out to transform the Amazon into their home. By endorsing colonization, the government could not only boost the country’s economy, but also gain control over Brazil’s vast territory. The government supported migration to the rainforest and campaigned for the construction of infrastructure (“History”). In concurrence, the development of roads such as the Trans-Amazonian Highway, a 2,000 mile road built in 1972, granted people and machinery entrance to
The Amazon Rainforest is probably the most important region that is threatened by deforestation. With over four million squared kilometers it is roughly the size of the United States. The Amazon spreads across nine South American Countries and contains one-fifth of the Worlds fresh water and one-third of the known living species. The land is home to hundreds of indigenous groups and is considered by many to be “the lungs of the planet”.
The most appropriate way to address land conflict in the Amazon rainforest is to stop deforestation. Because rubber tappers aren’t hurting the environment. They also make money/ living off of collecting the resources. The tappers have been tapping trees for their whole life. Although the rubber tappers have to put cuts in the trees to get the rubber resources out it doesn’t hurt the trees.
The Amazon rainforest in Brazil is facing high rate of deforestation along with the consequences. In fact, the rate of deforestation has increased by 29% from 2015. The deforestation is done illegally and the Brazilian government has made efforts to minimize the deforestation. An area the size of California has been cleared in the past half century and the government The Amazon Rain forest is responsible for eliminating around 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide. This yearly absorption helps eliminate greenhouse gases and when it is not absorbed it adds to climate change.
Deforestation is an environmental problem everybody gets affected by; but not equally. Cutting down trees and degrading the soil of an eco-system can change it for the worse and leave it unrecoverable. The Amazon Rainforest is a large and very biodiverse ecosystem that stretches across 5,500,000 kilometers. The Amazon Rainforest is not a stranger to deforestation since the late 1960’s. Deforestation in the amazon forest will cripple all organisms that rely heavily on the forest to provide for a sustainable life, while others not directly impacted may benefit from it. Other people may benefit from the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest from the profit that comes with the use of land for agriculture/livestock. However, the tribes, plants, and animals, that live in the Amazon Rainforest suffer from the loss of Biodiversity, the habitat and resources that are being taken away from clearing forests, and the reduced air quality along with the increased carbon emissions. Deforestation is a process of demolition towards the ecosystem.
There are several world changing events happening right now. However, many of these events are either forgotten or rarely discussed. One of these “forgotten” events is the deforestation of the rainforests. Rainforest deforestation primarily started in the 1970’s, but has since increased. Up until recently, deforestation of rainforests was seldom talked about despite how much it has affected the world. Rainforest deforestation needs more attention because it has occurred for many decades despite the environmental damage, the rainforest is important for the economy, food, and medicinal purposes, it has many adverse effects such as climate change, and there are several projects to reduce deforestation.
Since the year 1970, 758,092 square kilometers of the Amazon rainforest have been lost due to deforestation (“Changing Deforestation 1”). Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses and has been extremely prevalent in the Amazon rainforest in recent years. Many argue that the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is wrongful because of its negative impact on the environment while others argue that it is necessary to keep the Brazilian economy strong. Although it is beneficial to humanity for many reasons, the deforestation of the Amazon should be put to an end at once because of its serious issues and long lasting impacts in the atmosphere, in nature, in human health and in
The Amazon contains nearly half of the tropical rain forests of the world and a large area of tropical savannah, constituting a major source of natural resources. The vast expanse of the Amazon and its position in the humid tropics gives the region a significant potential to influence the global
“The lungs of the Earth,” the Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world and is home to a countless number of species (National Geographic, 2015). In 2013 the rate of deforestation in the Amazon rose by 29 percent and was largely observed in the states of Para and Mato Grosso in Brazil (Teixeira, 2014). The latest images taken by NASA’s satellite, Aqua reveals that multiple fires took place in these mentioned regions and were reported to have been intentional in order to clear land area (NASA, 2014). Earlier this year Sao Paulo faced severe draughts and the “drizzle city” was compared to a desert with 20 million settlers facing water cuts (Lean, 2015). Scientists believe the reason for this is the clearing
The Amazon Rainforest is a very diverse and complex place. It provides at least 10% of the world’s known biodiversity and it is the largest rainforest that the Earth contains (Thompson, 2010). Unfortunately, this valuable Earth biome is endangered due to human activities such as deforestation. About 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been destructed (Thompson, 2010). Deforestation leads to an increase in CO2 emissions and in global warming and it decreases biodiversity. This not only has an impact on the Amazon ecosystem, it has an impact on the whole planet. A lot of wealth inequality resulted around the 1970s when the settling of Amazon began which initiated deforestation (Marston, Knox, Liverman, Del Casino & Robinsons, 2013).
The Amazon is currently the largest deforestation front in the world. Deforestation is impacting us as well as a large range of plant and animal species. Every ten seconds, eight football fields of rainforests are destroyed. A variety of scientists that study deforestation have also reported that by 2030, more than a quarter of the Amazon will be gone. If we do our part by supporting the cause to reduce deforestation, we will cause a positive decline in global warming and, as an overall benefit, the cost effectiveness of reducing deforestation will then be able to be used by assisting others around the
Covering over 2 million km2, the Amazon Rainforest is home to the world’s largest rainforest and contains almost 50% of the world’s biodiversity and one-fifth of all freshwater. As the years have gone by, there has been growing evidence that has overturned historic understanding of what Amazonia was like prior to the colonial period, showing that the region was once home to far larger and more densely indigenous populations than originally thought. The governments and people of South America must implement environmental and indigenous standards for the species and humans of the Amazon or otherwise the struggles for biodiversity and cultural survival in the Amazonian region will continue to worsen.
Rainforests have been declining rapidly over the last few decades. There are various factors responsible for this decline, resulting in serious impacts on the environment and the economy. Critically discuss the causes of deforestation and solutions to it.
There are a number of negative effects of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon such as climate change, extinction of endemic species of rich biodiversity and destruction of home of indigenous people. First of all, climate may vary and deteriorate because of deforestation. Especially green house gas emission could have significant impacts on earth residents. Because it is calculated that Amazon rainforest contains about 10% of all carbon in the world, which total release will be disastrous. The deforestation of Amazon is responsible for the most greenhouse gas emissions which are the results of logging and burning of Amazon could have serious impacts to the whole world, including global warming (Butler, 2007). For instance, increase of 0.8 C from 1880 was indicated and especially two last decades of 20th century were hottest ones. Moreover, effects of it can be considerably felt in Alaska, Eastern Russia and Canada, where the double increase of temperature compared with total average was indicated (National Geographic News 2007). Another damage that deforestation could make is runoff of Amazon River. It is estimated that if “widespread deforestation” arise, there will be 20% increase in runoff, which could be