Deforestation In Hispaniola

I really enjoyed looking at your presentation. There was a lot of informative information on both the Dominican Republic and the issue of deforestation that is going on there. If we keep this up sooner or later the world can end up without and natural resources, like the forest. Not only are humans destroying the natural environment, they are also destroying animal and plant species homes. I find it sad that one day our world can end up being destroyed/extincted by us

Brazil’s rainforests and America’s rainforests are great examples of the negative effect that deforestation has on these specific areas. One of the rising challenges in our rapidly growing world is the destruction of rainforests and how it is slowly ruining the world that we live in. Deforestation has a lot of destructive impacts on the environment that is surrounding us, one of the most important being its effect on the climate. The fast rise in the world’s population, calling for high demand of resources, is only hastening the effects of deforestation, which can hopefully be put an end to through the enforcement of a handful of simple, key, and sustainable solutions.

Deforestation is defined as: “the clearing of virgin forests, or intentional destruction or removal of trees and other vegetation for agricultural, commercial, housing, or firewood use without replanting and without allowing time for the forest to regenerate itself” (SCRIBD). Deforestation has been a problem in Latin America since the early 1900s and the severity of the dilemma is increasing rapidly. Deforestation not only has consequences for the environment, but also, the indigenous people and the national economy. The logging industry in Latin America is often exploited by multinational companies that are not properly regulated. The land that has provided a home and cultivated indigenous development for centuries is being dissipated rapidly. Due to an exponentially growing global population, there is an increased demand for low priced goods--like timber, crops, and meat. Many Latin American countries value revenue from selling these goods over the health of their local ecosystems. The crisis of deforestation and habitat loss is shifting from a local to global problem. As deforestation continues, global warming escalates worldwide, impacting every country and person. About 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from tropical deforestation, which is more than from all the world’s cars, trucks and buses combined (Schwartzman). Puerto Rico and Brazil provide contrasting examples of the impact of deforestation. Puerto Rico had an economic and environmental shift

Tropical rainforests are the Earth?s oldest, richest, most productive, and most complex living ecosystems. They are located throughout many of the world?s continents including South America, Africa, and Asia and are defined by a few specific factors. Their location must be within the regions of the tropics and they must receive between 4-8 meters of rain per year (compared to about 1-2 meters in the United States). These forests also have no ?seasonality?, which means that they lack a definite dry or cold season of slowed growth.

In Middle and South America, it is evident that human interactions affect the physical features. The human interaction that affects Middle and South America is deforestation. In 1970’s a period of deforestation began in Brazil with the construction of the Trans-Amazon Highway; the road allowed migrant farmers to grow crops (Pulsipher & Pulsipher 2012). Deforestation continued throughout Middle and South America. The use lodging of hardwoods, extracting minerals, oil, gas, stones and clearing off land for raising cattle, and growing crops has impacted most of the land in Middle and South America (Pulsipher & Pulsipher 2012). The human interaction of deforestation has led to many environmental issues, changes in physical features. There are loss

In regards to the issue of deforestation, Haiti really needs to utilize the land they have already destroyed and save the remaining three percent that has remained untouched thus far. Haiti has already created national parks to save the remaining forests (Foret des Pins, Parc La Visite, Parc Historique La Citadelle, and Parc Macaya). These parks are located all over the country, but they are still struggling to survive (www.earthfamily.com) We need to figure out why they are struggling. It could be because the government is not giving any assistance to keeping the national parks whole and not destroying portions that they may need. In order to make way for future development, the government should really learn from more developed countries and “reinvent” already established areas instead of destroying forests to make the room they need.

The Amazon Rainforest is a mighty jungle filled with an array of exotic species of wood, like mahogany, and rich natural resources such as gold, copper, tin, and nickel. Naturally, people want to make a profit, but the rainforest’s trees stand in the way. Logging is the main source of deforestation. Every year, millions of trees are cut down to be made into timber. Many times, these logging operations are illegal. These operations will keep exploiting the Amazon for its exotic timber, not caring that many of these species of plants are either rare, or help support rare species and ecosystems. Mining also creates deforestation, but not as severely as logging. Trees are cut down to make way for mining operations that dig for non renewable resources like copper and gold. Trees are also used as charcoal to help produce pig iron. A third cause of deforestation is agriculture. Cattle ranches and soy plantations are created where the Amazon Rainforest once stood. As people expand their farms, they must cut down the areas they now use for farming. Trees are also cut to make space for animal pens. Governments also contribute to the deforestation problem by building roads and creating infrastructure. Although these roads help with communication and navigation, they cut through the rainforest, and often help illegal loggers create new roads from their operations in the jungle to these roads that connect with civilization. All of these factors have helped cut down the Amazon Rainforest. In the past

Although, Haiti’s economy hasn’t been able to grow due to poverty and corruption, their vulnerability to natural disasters and deforestation has also influenced. The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is what best reflects the amount of deforestation occurring in Haiti. Even though, they share the same climate, ocean access, and location, there is a huge divergence of growth between these two countries.

18 million acres of forest, which is roughly the size of the country of Panama, are lost each year, according to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization. Forests cover thirty percent of the earth. It is estimated that is one hundred years there will be no rainforests. The causes of deforestation are agricultural expansion, logging for timber, and infrastructure building.

Deforestation can improve the economies in developing nations and create room for new businesses, roads and railroads. The resources created also provide lumber and paper for other nations, and the land is available for agricultural purposes. These are all reasons why deforestation continues to increase. A New York Times article discovered that Cargill, the world’s largest privately owned company, and Bunge are increasing their share in the destruction of the rainforests in Bolivia and Brazil. These companies and many others have made a drastic choice, choosing profit over the environment. These companies along with many politicians question the importance of the worlds forests, claiming that the economy is more important. The world can only hope they are right. Currently, Tropical Rainforests make up 7 percent of the earth’s dry land and houses 50 percent of all species of animals. The Amazon basin alone contains 20 percent of the world’s fresh water. Astonishingly, these forests are being destroyed at a rate of one football field of land every minute. While millions of acres are destroyed each year. These numbers show the drastic consequences that loom ahead. Tropical rainforests are not sustainable at the rate they are being cut down. Scientists predict that if the rate of destruction stays as it is, all of the earths rainforests will disappear within the next 50 to 100 years. By not conserving

From 1990 to 2005, deforestation, or the removal of trees, was happening at an average rate of 13 million hectares (32.11 million acres) per year (Hope 247). In many ways, deforestation has been the reason for great economic success which turns people on to the idea even more. Deforestation is an essential element in promoting and encouraging developmental growth. Some places around the world may feel obligated to resort to deforestation due to population increases around the world. The concept of deforestation may seem to have a positive impact on society, but many people fail to consider the importance of replanting the trees that were harvested and removed. Deforestation mainly affects North and South America, but because of the Transamazon

-Forests: Destruction of Forest Covers (Haiti lost 98% of its forest cover after the Earthquake in 2010).

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.

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.

The rate of deforestation is increasing and the tropical forests are falling at approximately 140,000 acres per day (Miller & Tangley 1991: xvi). The forests are crucial to the environment. They are important in minimizing erosion, providing a stable habitat for many animals, and helping to keep the environment clean. Deforestation has devastating effects, not only on the biological dependents within the depleted forests, but also on the surrounding human-populated communities.