Danny Hernandez Dr. Katy Koch Writing 101: Research Paper 11 March 2010 Amazon Deforestation The Amazon rainforest the largest tropical area in the world, a vast and humid area where thousands of species of mammals, fish and insects have been unidentified by human; thus being the largest rainforest in the world, it is also the largest area of deforestation where football fields after fields are taken down a minute. The Amazon Deforestation being a growing issue amongst society in this generation can be prominently analyzed from the commodities derived from logging; to the negativity it can cause the environment as a result of erosion.
One of the biggest reasons why deforestation is such a big issue today is because of the livestock extracted from its lands, for example: cattle or otherwise known as the beef we eat today derives from the fields that are cleared daily. As Rhett Butler wrote in The Incredible Shrinking Amazon Rainforest “Clearing for cattle pasture is the largest driver of deforestation in the Amazon, accounting for more than two-thirds of annual forest clearing in many years. ” Fields measuring 100’s of yards cube get torn down, after they have been logged.
Like Sally Driscoll from Points of View: Amazon Deforestation wrote, “Removal of at least 40 percent of the growth in an area of forested land by means logging, also called clear-cutting. ” Those fields get filled with cattle, in other words cattle are raised for the consumption of human beings. With such acquirements beef from the Amazon becomes one of the largest exports of meats in the world. Another example is as followed, hunting is also a big issue of deforestation, there is such a colossal amount of mammals living in this area that hunting for wild pigs and even exotic animals is a pretty big accord.
Secondly, if cattle do not take over the land being cleared, then plantation comes into play. These plantations contracted from the trees already cut down cause deforestation to increase even more. Pulp and paper is produced from the lumber being torn down, now it seems to make sense when one says don’t waste paper save some trees. Now it makes sense that in order to get a pack of paper, thousands of trees become an everyday use of humans, and some don’t take into account the hurt its causing mother earth for one sheet of paper.
Along with paper plantations, there are also timber and fiber plantations. Mahogany is found throughout the whole rainforest, and as we all know it is also a very, very nice and expensive piece of furniture. But no one seems to consider the fact where the lumber comes from. The same trees brought down and logged are used for its beautiful lumber that today is being used to provide even the fanciest house with very expensive furniture; therefore being a major cause of deforestation for the same claim humans have for such beautiful lumber.
Lastly, after cattle have soiled the grounds of the area where it roamed, this land gets turned into fields after fields of cultivation. “first a rainforest area is logged for its valuable lumber, then burned for cattle grazing, and as the land becomes exhausted, plowed up for crops such as soybeans” a good sum up of the process of cultivation by Tim Hirsch from World Watch. Now you may ask yourself what is cultivated in the Amazon well there are two major types of cultivation throughout this massive and vast rainforest.
One of them is soy fields also a major export throughout the world, with big fields of soy also comes lots of cultivation equipment. Throughout the miles and miles of fields there also are dealers after dealers of John Deere tractors. Like Scott Wallace from National Geographic states in his article, “Brazilians are not the only people profiting from soybeans. ” So deforestation not only brings major cultivation exports to the world but also great investments for John Deere one other reason why deforestation would not like to be discontinued.
And aside from soy fields palm oil is also a big cultivation in the provinces of clear-cutting. So there are many great things that come from deforestation, but what are the negative effects that it brings the environment, and habitat. Well as we all are aware thousands of species live in the Amazon habitat many of which have not been discovered. John Augelli from Funk & Wagnalls New world Encyclopedia describes “The River and its tributaries are home to more than 1500 species of fish… Numerous and diverse animals and plants, many of which are found nowhere else in the world, flourish in the Amazon Basin. From that being said what a major effect caused by deforestation is the loss of many species of animals and indigenous people that still live in the Amazon rainforest today. So by deforestation their habitat is slowly being cut down, which is their home like Augelli mentioned thousands of species live in the Amazon. And if human ego and greed cuts it down many of these species will be lost to the world for they are not found anywhere else but in the Amazon, there are already many in brink of extinction from the effects of human destruction.
And what about the indigenous that still live there today unaware of present day, as Heather Zeppel from CAB International states, “There are 20 million people living in the Amazon, with 1 million of these being people from 420 tribal groups. ” Another effect caused by deforestation will be the drop of people blessed to live in their rituals and not deal with the world in its present state. Just think of losing your home for the greed of others, some of these tribes are completely ignorant to the world today and they should be left alone.
Another effect of deforestation is the recycle of oxygen, the rainforest recycles most of the earth’s oxygen as explained in Deforestation “forests recycle the world’s supply of oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. ” In other words rainforests help maintain our supply of oxygen clean, what would be the cause of burning down the Amazon, well first of all it’s the biggest land mass of tropical, humid jungles in the world; therefore it would be like giving you an oxygen mask without any filters so you would breathe in all that dirt and dust, easier said that you would suffocate.
The attributes of the Amazon is being able to recycle the oxygen that you breathe every day, and without it we would not be able to breathe clean air. Clear-cutting also causes the destruction of habitat, the erosion of soil and devastation of many species of animals. Trees are a major role in rainforest, better the reason why it is called a jungle, animals depend on trees to feed on from its fruits and plants as well as the creation of more soiled lands. Trees though they may grow slow they do so at a steady pace, ith its strong growing roots that will break apart any rock in its way by doing so opening more fertile land for habitat to grow upon. As explained in Deforestation “Forests help in the formation of soil. ” As you can see trees help create a better environment for all species and man that reside in the jungles of the Amazon. With the negativities caused by logging, the government is taking some actions to prevent the total loss of mother earth’s biggest wildlife habitat. Ever since the government of Brazil took action rates in the Brazilian Amazon have dropped 45. percent since August of 2008 to July of 2009 as explained in Amazon deforestation slows as Brazil tightens prevention an article by National Geographic that also states that “today, 43 percent of the Legal Amazon is federally protected. ” There are many great things acquired from Amazon deforestation, many of which are for human consumption but at the same time there are also many negative effects that consequently affect the earth’s atmosphere as well as the environment.
The benefits are great but the negativity of such destruction is by far greater to our life and we have to depend on rainforests to keep our race from extinction. Without the Amazon jungles to recycle our oxygen, we would all have a shorter life expectancy, and the biggest collection of animals’ would be lost to the world. Thanks to the Brazilian government we can expect the Amazon rainforest to grow and stay as is and keep some of the world’s supply of oxygen clean let’s just hope many other countries do the same. Word count: 1,438
