Deforestation In The Amazon Rainforest Essay, Research Paper

To: Michael Meacher

Transcripts: The Deputy Prime Minister

Director of EPS

All Heads of Division

RIO CONFERENCE ON DEFORESTATION IN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST

Dear Mr. Meacher,

I have prepared the undermentioned study for you to read before you attend the Rio Conference on Deforestation in the Amazon rain forest. I feel that the cardinal issues for you to see are planetary extent of deforestation and the status of the Amazon rainforest e.g. effects of deforestation.

I can non show how pressing my recommendations are and insist you consider them.

I am cognizant that you may non be familiar with the topic of the Amazon rainforest so I have taken the autonomy of supplying elaborate information under key-headings.

What is Deforestation?

Deforestation is the clearance of forestland. It is a cardinal planetary environmental issue ( see figure 1 and 1.5 ) . One hectare of the rain forest in LEDC states is cleared every two seconds. The cleared country has increased to the size of Great Britain. The fastest clearances in the universe take topographic point in the Amazon rain forest, South America, Brazil. ( See figure 2 )

Deforestation of wood for lumber, fuel, wood coal combustion and glade of agribusiness and extractive industries such as excavation, without seting new trees to replace those lost ( re-afforestation ) or working on a rhythm that allows the natural wood to renew. Deforestation causes fertile dirt to be blown off or washed into rivers, taking to dirty eroding, drouth, deluging and loss of wildlife. It may besides increase the C dioxide content of the ambiance and intensifies the nursery consequence, because there are fewer trees absorbing C dioxide from the air for photosynthesis. The nursery consequence is the gradual heating of the Earth & # 8217 ; s atmosphere because C dioxide and other gases prevent heat from get awaying to infinite, which makes the Earth & # 8217 ; s surface warmer than it otherwise, would be. ( See figure 9 for the nursery consequence )

Deforestation leads to famine and is thought to be partly responsible for deluging in lowland countries because the trees help to decelerate down H2O motion. In the Torrid Zones deforestation in the Torrid Zones is particularly serious because such woods do non renew easy and because they are such a rich beginning of bio-diversity.

The rainforest most affected by deforestation is the Amazon in Brazil. In the last 40 old ages over 25 % of the Amazon rain forest has been cleared.

What is the Amazon rain forest like?

The Amazon rain forest is about 5? North of the equator. The clime is really hot and wet throughout the twelvemonth and temperatures are normally above 20? degree Celsiuss and can frequently make every bit high as 30? degree Celsius ( see figure 3 ) it rains about every afternoon and the air becomes really humid, doing it experience hotter. Annual rainfalls are a high 1 500 & # 8211 ; 3 000mm compared to London, which has a upper limit of around 500mm.

The Amazon in Brazil, South America ( see figure 4 ) is one of the wettest part on the Earth. Over 15 000 feeders feed into the Amazon River. One fifth of the Earth & # 8217 ; s river H2O flows through the oral cavity of the Amazon, which is every bit broad as the distance from London to Paris. There are more species of workss and animate beings in the Amazon than anyplace else in the Earth and over 50 % of the workss and animate beings are found in the rain forest and supply about one one-fourth of the universes prescription drugs. For illustration the rose-colored periwinkle provides drugs, which help remedy leukaemia. 10 % of workss have been to the full studied and new animate beings are being discovered every twelvemonth. The biggest characteristic of the Amazon rain forest is that one tierce of the universe & # 8217 ; s trees grow here. The rainforest ecosystem had adapted to its environment, which consists of high temperatures, heavy rainfall and an all twelvemonth unit of ammunition turning season. The rain forest has a clear construction ( see figure 5 ) .

In order for trees to populate they must take foods from the dirt. In the amazon rain forest dead leaves fallen from the trees decompose at a great velocity because of the hot and wet clime. This procedure allows foods to be continuously returned to the dirt. This procedure is called the food or humus rhythm. ( See figure 6 ) After deforestation have occurred the rhythm alterations. The biomass shop would be instantly reduced if people removed trees from the country for lumber and the break caused animate beings to travel off. The flow of foods to the litter and dirt might increase ab initio as staying dead flora rotted down. However, in the longer term, the shops of foods in the litter and dirt would diminish as rapid leaching and dirt eroding occurred on the exposed land. As new secondary flora grew up the biomass shop would lift once more although non every bit much as earlier.

How is the Amazon rain forest seen as a resource?

The rain forest is in great danger from a quickly turning population ( see figure 4 ) , and because of this the demand on the woods natural resources is tremendous. The rain forest ecosystem has many utilizations including the followers:

? Switching cultivation by Native americans: crude folks in the forested Highlandss of the Amazon Basin pattern Switching Cultivation. While cultivated utilizing switching cultivation, tropical/equatorial rain forest food is chiefly locked up in the biomass with small food in the dirt. Besides, the cycling of foods is rapid.

? Corporations have setup ranching installations where one time forests grew.

? Mining to pull out natural stuffs such as Cu and Fe ore.

? Loging to export high quality hardwood lumber to do furniture etc & # 8230 ;

? Plantation to turn hard currency harvests for export

? Government policy to supply land for homeless Brazilians

The different groups of people in the wood have different struggles. Some of these struggles are for deforestation and some are against.

Those who are for deforestation are people and companies that will gain from the devastation. The devastation of the rain forest by such activities as ranching and excavation is besides a necessity to the Brazilian economic system. A spread proprietor Jose Rodriguez told us the farming method used. & # 8220 ; We clear an country of wood and farm it for five old ages, so we leave it to rest and retrieve its birthrate & # 8221 ; . This means that the sum of farming land grows but the amazon rain forest is being destroyed. Although huge sums of wood are being destroyed every twelvemonth ranching besides provides occupations for many people and they supply meat to MEDC states, which helps their economic system. A main executive for the Trombetas bauxite mine told us & # 8220 ; we try to protect the environment every bit much as possible, nevertheless, it is inevitable that some wood will be destroyed in the large-scale extraction of natural stuffs & # 8221 ; . Mining provides one million millions of dollars, which is used to pay the national debt to MEDC states and provides 1000s of occupations. Loging has the same grounds for bing but we can non overlook the fact menace the wood

is being destroyed and it is impacting the whole universe.

A group that is seeking to halt this annihilating devastation is Greenpeace. Their position on deforestation is that there is no statement it is a cardinal planetary issue, the virago forest affects belongs to all of us and its devastation will impact everyone. If we want to keep the planet so we must follow in the footfalls of Greenpeace and continue this natural resource. Multinational companies, the Brazilian authorities and 1000000s of local husbandmans are destructing the rainforest ; it will impact all of us, the universe & # 8217 ; s clime and destruct the richest shop of workss and animate beings on the Earth. We can non let this to go on it must halt.

The chief ground this can non go on is because the virago rain forest is hope to many autochthonal people. The people of the virago have the key to its protection. Recent orbiter informations indicated that the autochthonal districts demarcated in Brazil during the last five old ages are the lone countries to hold rolled back deforestation. Many autochthonal people believe that they were put here to protect female parent Earth. They need their environment intact to go on the reproduction of their civilization. They need to utilize the forest resources but besides to continue it for future coevals. The lone job is to last they need to work to back up their households. As the lone work about is in mines and on spreads they are forced to destruct their ain environment. Besides some people who can no longer last in the rain forest are forced to go forth their place and their civilization and move to the metropoliss where occupations are available. The civilization and manner of life is deceasing at a rapid rate and if deforestation is non stopped so what these people have will be no more.

Consequences

! The trees in the Amazon rainforest supply one half of the universe & # 8217 ; s O. If we cut down the trees, we are besides cutting down our O. This means that there will be more carbon dioxide produced. The C rhythm can be found at ( figure 8 )

! The autochthonal people will free their civilization and place for future coevalss. Their manner of life will vanish along with the rain forest.

! The 100s of different species of wildlife that exist within the rain forest will be destroyed. This means extinction for many and new species will no longer be discovered.

! The workss and trees in the Amazon rainforest provide one half of the universe & # 8217 ; s medical specialties, if the workss are destroyed the possible opportunity of a remedy for major diseases such as AIDSs and malignant neoplastic disease is lost.

! If deforestation continues the Amazon basin will finally go a desert as fewer trees mean that the sum of H2O vapor come ining the ambiance will cut down.

! 80 % of rainfall is stopped from traveling into the under beds of the rain wood by the covering canopy. If the trees are removed so the more rain will make the forest floor and rinse off the dirt. Soil birthrate will diminish and eroding will increase. This will increase implosion therapy and do agriculture hard.

! Some species of hardwood trees will go endangered.

! Global heating will go worse as a consequence of deforestation in the Amazon. This is the combustion of trees, which increases the sum of C into the ambiance

! The large-scale excavation in the Amazon basin is destructing and fouling the natural environment.

Solutions to deforestation

Some solutions to deforestation can be seen at ( figure 7 ) .

Continuing on from the diagram I would wish to foreground the ways in which companies can assist to halt deforestation every bit good as feat it. Companies have been known to be willing to contend to cut down deforestation. These two companies are Habitat, which have banned the sale of rain forest merchandises and the national trade and timber company are sing whether or non to set revenue enhancement on imports of tropical hardwood merchandises. This means that a batch less wood would be exported from the tropical rain forest in Brazil.

Fast nutrient ironss in America have told their providers non to purchase meat from Central America last twelvemonth because of an environmental call. This means that the demand for meat would hold decreased.

These companies are a good starting point to go on from. If more companies would make this there would be a smaller demand for tropical merchandises. The lone ground deforestation is go oning is because MEDC states have a high demand for the Amazon & # 8217 ; s natural resources. The rain forest ecosystem is a biosphere modesty ( see figure 10 ) , which is an ecosystem that is being protected from development from authorities schemes. These authorities schemes are non many at present but with excess support from MEDC states they may better. The authorities in Brazil has made an effort to halt the combustion of the rain forest in the virago by utilizing choppers to look into on the rain forest. Due to miss of money merely six choppers are available to cover an country the size of Western Europe. The authorities set up IMBAMA, which was an administration that tracked down fires with the aid of constabulary ( improper fires ) and warn and all right landholders. The authorities is partially to fault for the huge devastation of the tropical rain forest in Brazil. This is because for the last 20 old ages the authorities actively encouraged people to fire land and paid them subsidies to make so. An international call was the consequence and eventually the authorities published the & # 8216 ; our nature & # 8217 ; plan, this stopped all new subsidies. So, utilizing the biosphere militias is possible agencies of rain forest protection that the authorities set up.

So curate now you have seen all the facts of deforestation, the effects it has on the whole universe and what we suggest can be done to stop this planetary issue. I put it to you that yes! There is a demand to command deforestation in the Amazon rain forest and it should be dealt with every bit shortly as possible.

The chief issues involved in deforestation are:

? The universe & # 8217 ; s clime is being changed

? Amazon & # 8217 ; s native people are being forced from their places and are fring their civilization and manner of life.

? Many species are being destroyed

? Medicines from workss and trees in the Amazon rain forest are in danger of vanishing

? The combustion of trees is directing C into the air and causation nursery gases, which in clip will damage the Earth and peoples wellness.

Although deforestation helps with the national debt and supplies occupations, is that truly deserving destructing the Earth?

Minister the position we recommend that you take at the conference is that deforestation should be stopped and that it are incorrect. I feel that the grounds is sufficient to endorse up your statement, as there are many more statements against every bit good as for deforestation. Deforestation is the devastation of the Earth and if the solutions we have suggested are non used rapidly so Earth will go an unfriendly, unnatural topographic point to be.

I thank you kindly for sing my briefing and hope that the conference has positive consequences.