Natural Resources and Energy in the Rainforests

The Brazilian Rainforest is one of the most unique, vast, and diverse regions of the world. To get a general idea of the diversity of the Rainforest, it makes up a total of one-third of the world forests (more than four million square kilometers), it contains half of the total number of named species in the world (eighty-thousand plant species, 1,500 fish species, and one-forth of the 8,600 bird species), and is the world largest holder of genes (Library 138-139). To say the least, the Brazilian Rainforest is one of the most important natural resources we, as humans, know. It would seem that this knowledge, alone, would also make the Brazilian Rainforest one of the most protected land areas on Earth as well. However, the situation is

The Denver Academy has recently researched and defined some of the important facts surrounding the Amazon rainforest. In 2017, the Amazon rainforest covers 2.1 million square miles of South America. It is a vast ecosystem home to 10% of the world’s known species (The Denver Academy). They go on to say that the trees are so dense, when it rains, it takes 10 minutes for the water to break through the forest roof. The destruction of this habitat could lead to extinction of these species, and have devastating impacts all over the world from the loss of the lungs of the earth. While it is mainly concentrated in Brazil there are also large portions of the rainforest in Peru and Colombia, so many populations and economies are directly affected

It looks more and more like the ones with the wrong fantasy of the Amazon is us. Unfortunately, the myth of the pristine, uninhabited and "free for the taking" Amazon has had serious consequences to this day for people, the animals and the forest

The Amazon Rainforest takes up 5.5 million km2 of South America, and is one of the richest and most diverse biomes on this planet. Encompassing over half of the world’s tropical rainforest in

Tropical rainforests are responsible for more than half of the world’s biodiversity. The rainforests used to cover around 14 percent of the earth, but due to deforestation, rainforest hardly cover six percent. Humans play a big role in the declining of the tropical rainforest, which also impacts the biotic and abiotic factors. It may seem not that terrible at the moment, but we’re actually losing 137 species everyday. If this keeps happening, it’s going to affect humans soon because some medicines can only be found in the plants and animals in the rainforest. That's not the only thing that’s affected, there’s also the cycles of matter which is necessary for life.

The Rainforest is home to more than half of the world's animals. One of the reason for the rainforest having this amount of animals

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.

More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest. More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. One-fifth of the world's freshwater is in the Amazon Basin.

In contrast to destructive practices that profit a few but destroy the forest for all, intact tropical rainforests provide long-term, widely distributed benefits. These benefits include increased biodiversity, protection of wildlife, food, fuel, medicines, building materials, and global climate stabilization (Bagheera, 1996,p.2). Due to the magnitude of tropical deforestation that has occurred, its potential affect on loss of biodiversity and alteration of world climate, this is arguably the most important global conservation issue today (Kricher, 1997).

Furthermore, this destruction of diverse biological aspects could result in extinction of yet unknown species. These aforementioned species could yield yet unforeseen cures of many of today's illnesses. We have no idea what possible opportunities might lie hidden within the genomes of the world's forests. "There is a further dimension to the impoverishment that is overtaking the Earth's biota. Many species are losing entire sub-units, in the forms of races and populations, which greatly reduces their genetic variability. Even though these species are not being endangered in terms of their overall numbers, many of them, such as corn, rice and wheat, are suffering a critical decline in their genetic variety," (Myers 132). "Informed estimates tell us there must be at least five million (species); recent research suggests there could be as many as thirty million insect species in tropical forests alone. We also know that the distribution of species worldwide is far from even. At least two-thirds of them, and perhaps as many as ninety percent are concentrated in the Tropics." Recent research suggests there could be as many as thirty million insect species alone, in the tropical forests." Also, six percent of the Earth's land surface is covered by these tropical forests, which shelter approximately fifty percent of all species of the world. If this bio-depletion is allowed to continue there soon may

The Amazon Rainforest is perhaps the largest and most important terrestrial ecosystem in the world. Home to 30% of all the species known to man (“Importance”), the biodiversity contained within the Amazon Rainforest is unrivaled by any other ecosystem. Encompassing an area roughly the size of the continental United States (“Amazon Rainforest”), the Amazon Rainforest is home to 390 billion trees from 16,000 species, 40,000 plant species, 5,600 fish species, 1,300 bird species, 430 kinds of mammals, 1,000 kind of amphibians, and 400 kinds of reptiles (“Amazon Wildlife”). In addition to the species richness and species diversity within the Amazon Rainforest, the 390 billion trees act as a carbon sink by absorbing and retaining large amounts of carbon in their leaves, branches, and trunks; it is estimated that Amazonian trees store 86 billion tons of sequestered carbon (“Importance”). Furthermore, the Amazon Rainforest is an integral part of weather patterns not only in South American, but also in the United States and Central America. In South America, the precipitation produced through transpiration in the Amazon Rainforest nourishes areas that produce 70% of the South America’s GDP (“Importance”). The Amazon Rainforest also provides indispensable ecosystem services that sustain the local population; small-scale logging and gathering stimulate the economies of small towns and villages, and the Amazon River provides a mode of transportation as well as a

To refer to the Amazon Rainforest as huge would be an understatement. The Amazon comprises 1.4 billion acres of land that make 54 percent out of all the remaining tropical rainforests on earth. In fact, in a parallel world, if the Amazon were a nation, it would be the ninth biggest nation on earth. As of June 2011, the Amazon's size and assorted diversity made it a contender for one of the New Seven Wonders of the World by the Seven Wonders of the World Foundation.

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.

With rainforest deforestation being one of the first major causes of harm to the environment due to civilization, it is known globally that we have destroyed a huge portion of the rainforests on the Earth. Richard Schiffman is an environmental journalist, poet, and author. In his article, “No, Tropical Deforestation Rates Aren’t Falling,” he avows, “The planet has lost 46% of its forests in the past 12,000 years. 15 billion trees are felled each year. Rainforest loss accelerated by 62% during the 1990s and 2000s.” (No). Oppenlander elaborates on the same idea stating, “Just a two-acre area of rainforest may contain over 750 types of trees (more than the total tree diversity of North America) and 1,500 species of plants.” (24). Thinking of how much of the rainforest has disappeared, we know that millions of species have been lost and we can assume that millions of unknown species have been lost. Ian Sample is a science correspondent for the website “The Guardian”. In an article he wrote entitled “Amazon’s doomed species set to pay deforestation’s ‘Extinction Debt’” he

Conservation of Biodiversity in Peruvian Amazonia through integrated action Conservación de Biodiversidad en la Amazonía peruana a través de acciones integradas Sanna-Kaisa Juvonen1*, Luis Campos Baca2, León Bendayan Acosta2, Ada Castillo Ordinola2, Lizardo Fachin Malaverri2, Darwin Gómez Ventocilla2, Risto Kalliola2, Kember Mejía Carhuanca2, José Luis Mena Alvarez2, Víctor Miyakawa Solís2, Fernando Rodríguez Achung2, Juan José Rodríguez Gamarra2, Kalle Ruokolainen2, Jukka Salo2, José Sanjurjo Vilchez2, Pekka Soini Nordberg2 & Hernán Tello Fernandez2