Deforestation is a significant issue that is occurring in the Amazon rainforest right now. Many different aspects are causing the rainforest to become destroyed.
The Amazon rainforest is a tropical rainforest located in the Amazon basin of South America. It is the world’s largest rainforest, 1.4 billion acres. This rainforest is home to as many as 90 percent of the plant and animal species throughout the world.
A lot of the Amazon rainforest has already been destroyed. Between May 2000 and August 2006, Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometers of forest which is an area larger than Greece. Also, since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed.
This is a map of South America. It shows how the vegetation in the Amazon region is the highest.
One economic cause is cattle ranching. Cattle ranching is the process of clearing the rainforest in order to grow beef for the world market. 65-70% of deforestation is caused by cattle ranching. Logging is another cause of deforestation. Logging is the process of cutting down trees to sell them as timber. Currency Devaluation is the devaluation of the Brazilian real against the dollar which effectively doubled the price of beef in reels. There is subsistence agriculture which is self-sufficiency farming. There is also commercial agriculture, which is when farmers produce crops for sale. Fires and mining cause deforestation as well.
An economic effect is that cattle ranching clears out the rainforest in order to raise cattle to produce beef. Also, Logging in the denser regions of the forests resulted in the construction of new roads. Another effect is that the rainforest is losing its ability to stay green due to fires. Also, the destruction of the rainforest leaves many animals without a habitat, which can lead to extinction. Plants are also being killed. In addition, clearing the forest by burning trees releases carbon dioxide. This contributes greatly to climate change.
Another economic effect of deforestation is that farmers are expandng their pasture areas by clearing out parts of the rainforest. Soybean farms cause some forest clearing directly. But they have a much greater impact on deforestation by consuming cleared land, savanna, and transitional forests. This thereby pushes ranchers and slash-and-burn farmers even deeper into the forest frontier, causing deforestation.
One social cause of deforestation is dams. For instance, the Balbina dam flooded some 2,400 square kilometers (920 square miles) of rainforest when it was completed. Wildfires are simply caused by nature. Another economic cause is poor migrants. They are traveling in order to claim land for themselves.
A social effect of dams is that the flooding of them destroys the rainforest. Wildfires, another social effect, dries out and destroys the rainforest as well. A third social effect is poor migrants. These migrants clear the land in order to claim land for themselves.
Some government agencies such as the Ministry of Transportation, continue to plan and build roads and other infrastructure projects without regard for impact on deforestation. Another political cause of deforestation is that some government incentive programs are promoting agriculture.
A political effect is that since the government wants to build roads, it shows that they are not thinking about the harm and damage that they can cause towards the Amazon rainforest. Sometimes, the government can focus on agriculture and the economy instead of focusing on the significant issue of deforestation.
This pie chart on the left shows the different causes of deforestation and their percentages between 2000-2005. Cattle ranching causes 65-70% of deforestation, etc. The graph on the right, shows how many square kilometers were deforestated per year from 1988-2010.
My first solution is about law enforcement. The government could make a law stating that a person is not allowed to cut down trees around the rainforest area, and if that person does, they will receive a fine. The positives of this solution is that it would help preserve the environment. The negatives of this solution is that it would hurt the economy since loggers will no longer be able to cut down trees in order to sell them as timber.
My second solution is to have government mandated school programs in the region in order to create further awareness of deforestation in the Amazon. The positives of this solution is that it will raise awareness to more people and help prevent further destruction of the rainforest in the future. The negatives of this solution is that it may not decrease the problem of deforestation directly.
I think that solution #1 is more effective because enforcing laws would directly solve the problem of loggers and farmers who cut down trees, and giving them a fine if they do not obey that law. In my opinion, Solution #1 would more likely directly solve some of the issues that cause deforestation and decrease it more than solution #2 would.
I signed a petition stating that we need to save our rainforests, especially the Amazon rainforest, in order to help our future. One thing it states is that the carbon dioxide that is released by trees that are killed, will harm the earth. A second thing it states is that if these forests continue to disappear at the alarming rate that they are now, many possible medicines and ways to treat diseases will be lost due to the biodiversity in the forests.
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