Tropical Rainforest Research Paper

As you are reading this, sixty seconds from now approximately over 100 acres and roughly about 2,000 trees are being destroyed at an alarming rate worldwide. As a result an estimated 140 species of rainforest plants and animals go extinct every day. That is the equivalent of at least 42 million acres of tropical forests in Asia, Africa, and Latin America are lost each year, an area the size of the state of Washington (RFA). Now some may say in a geographical perspective the continents listed above are not in correlation to North America’s natural resources, but it is of vital importance to take swift precautionary methods to help reduce this process before it is too late. Even the most conservative estimates project

People have been deforesting the Earth for thousands of years, primarily to clear land for crops or livestock. Although tropical forests are largely confined to developing countries they aren’t just meeting local or national needs.

The earth is losing its forests. Presently, trees cover about 30 percent of the earth's surface, but they are being destroyed at an alarming rate, especially in the tropics.

The depletion of tropical rainforests by third world countries, as well as by American industry, has been a growing area of concern for many environmental organizations. Animal rights activists are livid at the frightening rate in which species are becoming extinct in these regions. Conservationists argue that the foliage is disappearing at rates that replanting programs will never be able to compete with. Environmentalists and Meteorologists fear that the elimination of enormous quantities of acreage will result in a long list of problems, including global warming, abnormal precipitation patterns, and unpredictable weather systems, just to

Entire ecosystems are filled with unique species, and the frightening reality is deforestation takes the habitat out from underneath its inhabitants (Bradford 2015). Forests have been cleared at a rate so astonishingly fast, that over half of all known forests have been compromised. If this type of behavior continues, the natural world will have to be given a new name, because nothing left will be "natural". Rainforests clearly have an outward benefits, from cleaning the air we breathe, to different diversity among the species who inhabit this Earth. Organismal density around the equator is exceptionally high, yet humans feel the need to clear much of that land for different use. Urbanization and the need for more agricultural space play a critical role in how much land humans clear. What we as a species forget is how all of these trees and biomes impact the world on a grander scale. Water vapor is needed to complete the water cycle, but without trees constantly humidifying the air, the cycle becomes less fluid. Sturdy trees like the ones in much of the rainforest hold the soil and anchor it from eroding. Because deforestation completely removes all the

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.

The Earth is losing “upwards of 80,000 acres of tropical rainforest daily.” To put this into perspective this is 1/9 of the size of the state of Rhode Island that is being destroyed daily. Not only is the destruction of the rain forest causing problems for only the organisms living within the rainforest but also for people and industries worldwide. We need to save our rainforests so that we can continue to survive and also help the animals that live within the areas being destroyed. People are cutting these areas down for more development and empty land but causing more harm than good in the long run.

The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, with about 5.5 million km2, of which 3.3 million are in Brazil, representing 45% of the country. The remaining 40% are divided between French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The Amazon region is also home to the largest river basin in the world, with an area of 7.3 million km2.

The largest rainforest in the world is being deforested with little opposition. It is a rainforest that humans have been benefiting from for hundreds of years. Notably, this rainforest is the Amazon, and many people ignore the destruction happening in there and do not realize that thousands of acres of land have been deforested. On the other hand, they are clearing these areas to gain significant resources such as diamonds, gold, lumber and medicinal plants. For these reasons, a controversy over the deforestation in the Amazon has arisen. Although the deforestation has provided valuable natural resources businesses in the forested regions, the removal of the Amazon rainforest is detrimental to its biodiversity because it creates a dysfunctional habitat.

One in ten species in the world lives in the Amazon, which makes it the most biodiverse tropical rainforest in the world. This great expanse of rainforest harbors about half of all species on Earth. As large areas of this tropical forest are cleared by deforestation, entire species are vanishing, many of them unknown. The dense tropical forests also hold a large amount of carbon that is being released into the atmosphere because of deforestation. Although deforestation in the tropics is rapid and widespread, some people are making an increasing effort to mitigate potential disaster.

All the tropical rainforest are located in the tropics of capricorn and tropics of cancer.

Rainforests are vital for countless reasons; for example they produce the essential oxygen that all species need to survive. However, despite their significant importance, rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate. Rinkesh states, “according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, an estimated 18 million acres of forest are lost each year” (Rinkesh). The rapid loss of rainforests is due to deforestation, “the clearing, destroying, or otherwise removal of trees through deliberate, natural or accidental means” ("Effects of Deforestation"). While there are many valid reasons for deforestation, it’s important to consider the destructive consequences if the rapid rate of deforestation

“Seventy percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes.” The trees of the rainforest that provide shelter for some species also provide the canopy that regulates the temperature, a necessity for many others. Its removal through deforestation would allow a more drastic temperature variation from day to night, much like a desert, which could prove fatal for current

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.

Tropical rain forests across the globe are currently threatened by massive deforestation for logging, grazing, and cultivation (Otzen 1993). Such land-use practices alter temperature regimes (Fernandes and Sanford 1995) as well as ground, soil, and surface water, flora, fauna, and microorganisms (Otzen 1993). These changes may result in a loss of soil organic matter, a decrease in soil fertility (Garcia-Oliva et al. 1994, Tissen et al. 1994), severe soil erosion (Otzen 1993), and changes in soil structure and chemistry (Fernandes and Sanford 1995, Sollins et al. 1995, Montgagnini and Sancho 1994.)