Effects Of Deforestation In Brazil

Deforestation presents in an abundance of ways, including fires, clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching and development, unsustainable logging for timber, and degradation due to climate change. The foremost reason of deforestation in Latin America is the requirement for food, fuel, shelter, and foreign exchange. Year on year, a space of tropical forest the size of Great Britain is "converted" from an area equal to the size of Europe. Ever since 1950, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), half of the world 's forests have disappeared. “Latin America has lost 37 percent of its tropical forests,” says the FAO. As more and more of Latin American forest are degraded, more and more detrimental effects are being seen. Deforestation is changing a number of resources for tribal groups, altering their way of life, temperatures are increasing at a dangerous rate because of a buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, habitats and species such as plants and wildlife are being annexed due to the destructive effects of deforestation. Deforestation is inarguably helpful to supplying money to countries that sell the products from the forest, but huge wealth being generated from the forests comes with large-scale environmental and social costs. The local residences are not benefitting and the funds are being siphoned out of the region.

Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change because they act as a carbon sink soaking up carbon dioxide that would otherwise be free in the atmosphere and contribute to ongoing changes in climate patterns. Deforestation undermines this important carbon sink function. It is estimated that 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions are the

However, due to more people searching for plots there is greater pressure on the amount of available land. The logging industry is responsible for a relatively small level of deforestation, accounting for 3% in Brazil. Consequently, all these activity contribute together to the rapid loss of what is left of the rainforest and a large proportion of the world’s biodiversity. All of the resources that the rainforest provides could be lost in the next 40 years.

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

Forests control the amounts of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere therefore contributing to global warming. However we as a planet have a problem… deforestation.

Recently, Global Warming has been a huge topic of discussion for many people. Deforestation has specifically contributed to harmful gases, including CO2 (Carbon Dioxide), being emitted into the atmosphere. According to Cesareo and Walker, “deforestation is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions after fossil fuel burning, causing 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions”. Trees naturally absorb Carbon Dioxide, and when trees are removed from the environment,

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

The Amazon rainforest, known as well as the Amazonia, is considered as the “lung of the planet,” due to it produces about 20% of earth’s oxygen. The Amazon is contained by the countries of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and the three Guianas (Amazon Rainforest). Unfortunately, one phenomenon that has been affecting the Amazon rainforest is the deforestation; according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, deforestation is the transformation of forest to non-forest land cover by human activities.

Did you know that Brazil is home to one-third of the world’s rainforests? The beautiful South American country, Brazil, whose size is 3.288 million square miles, is home to one of the largest rainforests of the world, the Amazon rainforest. Something that a lot of people don’t know is that the Brazilian rainforests are extremely important and they not only affect the people of Brazil, but everyone around the world. Since the Amazon rainforest is so large in size, it would only make sense if it affect the world more than other rainforests. Therefore, Brazilian rainforests affect our world greatly because of all of the things that we gain from it, the harmful effects of deforestation, and because of deforestation, we need to teach people to conserve the rainforests.

Scientists have concluded that “agricultural production and other economic activities, deforestation adds more atmospheric CO2 than the sum total of cars and trucks on the world's roads” (Scientific American). While Brazil is not the only country to participate in deforestation, because of the sheer size of the Amazon jungle much of the damage is created there. All of the actions in the deforestation of Brazil’s rain forests create greenhouse gasses, which in turn contribute to global warming. Trees act as “carbon sequestering” (National Geographic) machines as they hold in carbons as they produce oxygen. Cutting down or burning trees to clear, claim and/or fertilize the land causes the trees to emit these dangerous carbons into the atmosphere.

2.4 acres per second- two football fields of rainforest disappear every second (World History 1). Deforestation, or the clearing of trees and plants on a massive scale, has been happening since Portugal first colonized the region known as the Amazon Rainforest, which is in Brazil. As development and population have increased, relief from overpopulation has been found in rainforest land. Currently, use of the land is a result of industrial use, poverty and agricultural plantations. The excessive clearing of rainforest demonstrates the devastating destruction that is possible, from killing animal species to eliminating water

Deforestation. Deforestation is one of the most critical problems in Brazil. Destroying natural habitat is a direct threat to biodiversity (Wilson et al., 2015). Historically, deforestation rates have been high in Brazil fluctuating between 25,000 to 50,000 kilometers squared per year. If deforestation were to continue at the historical rates, then most of the Amazon would disappear within 50 to 100 years (Shukla, 1990). While contemporary deforestation rates are not so severe, they are still high and have recently begun to increase. In 2009, Brazilian deforestation was estimated at 7,008 kilometers squared (May et al., 2011). After a slight decrease in the deforestation rate, with a valley in 2012 at 4,571 kilometers

The Amazon Rainforest is a vital and spectacular part of our planet. The forest spreads over nine countries on the South American continent which are Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It is the world’s largest remaining rainforest covering over 2.5 million square miles, with 63 percent of it resting in Brazil. (Finer 2008). It is considered the lungs of Earth. Giving the entire world population daily oxygen and absorbing our carbon dioxide. Industrialization is the main factor killing our rainforests. Because Brazil is speeding up productions of timber, metals, and beef, to boost their economy, the Amazon Rainforest is declining. The measurements of deforestation in the rainforest

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

In the heart of Brazil you will find The Amazon Rainforest. Covering an immense 1.7 billion acres, this broad-leafed rainforest is the largest of its kind in the world (McLendon). Forests alone cover a third of all land on our planet, contributing essential natural infrastructure to both humans and wildlife (Adams). Along with providing materials like timber, fruits, and fibers, each individual tree works to clean the air, soil, and water while keeping the Earth cool and its inhabitants sheltered. Unfortunately since early European Industrialization four hundred and fifty years ago, the Amazon rainforest has been subjected to rapid deforestation. Not only does this preface a very grim prediction for those depending on the ecosystem’s sensitive balance, it will not be long before the mass effects of deforestation impact the lives of everyone on Earth.