The cause: Deforestation. What is Deforestation?
Deforestation is basically the process of permanently removing trees to make room for creating land for agriculture, construction, logging, or cattle ranching. Unfortunately, the amazon suffers from deforestation the most. According to WWF, 20% of the Amazon biome has already been lost due to deforestation and is predicted to get worse if deforestation continues at an alarming rate. It is also estimated that Amazon will lose about 27% of its trees by the year 2030. More than half of the Deforestation is done in Brazil. Cattle ranching is responsible for nearly 80% of deforestation causation in the Amazon forest.
Negative impacts of Deforestation in the amazon
As mentioned before, many of Earth's plants and animals live in the Amazon forest. But due to deforestation, there has been a significantly lost in plant and animal species because their habitats have been destroyed. The trees that are being cut down for deforestation purposes were not only primary shelters for species, but the leaves of the trees served as a shading mechanism that helped regulate temperature. Deforestation also allows for the temperature to change drastically which had a negative effect on inhabitants. Also, trap greenhouse gases mainly caused by human activity. Another capability that the Amazon forest can is to produce 75% of its own rainfall, feeding off surrounding water streams such as rivers. The water in the rivers then flows directly into the ocean which contributes to the circulation of ocean currents. As a result, the evapotranspiration of the Amazon rivers ultimately takes part in controlling the regional climate.
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Similarly, to wildlife, the amazon also provides critical services that local residents and indigenous tribes depend on. The resources that Amazon provides support approximately 34 million people who depend on these resources for their survival. They depend on the forest for food, water supply, and shelter. Although remote from the rest of the world, the human inhabitants of the Amazon forest were able to successfully create their own society, culture, and community. Many of the indigenous population who reside in these remote areas in the Amazon have never seen outsiders nor have they ever left the amazon premises. To them, the Amazon jungle is their home, and rightfully so. The inhabitants managed to make amazon jungle adaptable to them and have been doing so since the beginning of time.
The amazon forest as we know it serves as a vital crutch to sustain equilibrium on earth as well as being a major provider to virtually all living things. So why would the amazon jungle be on the verge of slowly depleting?
The Amazon rainforest is credited with the largest and most diverse ecosystems on the planet. This vast fascinating region stretches across the countries of Brazil, Columbia, Peru, Venezuela, French Guiana, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Beyond the surface of lush greens and exotic scenery, Amazon contributes significantly to Earth in several ways. Amazon plays an important role in making the planet function harmoniously.
Amazon is known to be the most biodiverse place on the planet. It is home to thousands of different species of plants and animals. It is unbelievable to note that they are Scientists who claim that they are many species of plants and animals to be discovered in the Amazon. The Rain forest is also estimated to have 390 billion individual trees divided into 16,000 species which highlights the fact that the Amazon is undoubtedly diverse in various ecosystems With so much biodiversity, it is also important to mention that the Amazon is also home to hundreds of endangered species
One valuable benefit to humans that the Amazon forest could potentially offer would be finding natural cures that could lead to advancement in medicine. Considering the abundance of biodiversity in the Amazon, there are thousands of plants and animals that we can conduct scientific research on. This could ultimately lead to scientific breakthroughs that could save millions of lives.
With billions of trees surrounding the Amazon's radius, it is also important to mention how these magnificent trees are responsible for absorbing Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The trees
Corporations also have the power to inflict change that prevents deforestation from getting worse. They can establish strict policies intended to protect the Amazon rainforest. This will force those involved in the deforestation industry to take accountability for their actions since they would now have incentives.
To inflict change on a greater scale, however, the government must do its part by implementing more conservation laws specifically rendered to protect those who inhabit the Amazon. Making sure that we support treaties such as the Convention on Climate change and Convention and International Trade in Endangered Species can also make play a big role in fighting against deforestation.
We as a collective can also make a difference in fighting deforestation by just simply educating ourselves and taking an effort to make better choices as it pertains to the environment. Although a lot of damage has been done to the Amazon rainforest, we still have the power to enact change that will better our planet for the future to come.
What we can do to stop deforestation involves finding alternative ways to help decrease the need for tree deforestation in the first place. Since cattle ranching is the main reason for deforestation in Brazil, it would be ideal for farmers to find more sustainable ways to farm while also finding new farming technologies to eliminate their need for more land.
A more direct approach to combat the effects of deforestation would be restoration. We can replant the trees in the areas that have been impacted by deforestation while also letting the forest regenerate over time. As this may take a while to accomplish it is certainly a step in the right direction.
Deforestation causes a major concern as it pertains to increasing greenhouse gases. The depletion of trees allows for the excess amount of greenhouse gasses to be released into the atmosphere. Too many greenhouse gasses being released into the atmosphere will ultimately contribute to the global warming crisis
One important benefit that trees were able to do was produce their own water which helps regulate the water cycle. But with deforestation having to reduce the number of trees in the forest, this causes less water to be in the air which is supposed to be returned back into the soil. As a result, the texture of soil gets dryer than it should be, and in turn, affects the growth rate of crops.
We must also consider how deforestation negatively affects the home of human inhabitants. As mentioned before, Amazon provides millions of people with shelter, food, and everyday necessities. But with deforestation in the works, they are essentially forced to deal with the negative repercussions which are just morally and ethically wrong.
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