Deforestation In The Amazon Rainforest Essay Research

Deforestation In The Amazon Rainforest Essay, Research Paper

To: Michael Meacher

Copies: 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 following report for you to read before you attend the Rio Conference on Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. I feel that the key issues for you to consider are global extent of deforestation and the condition of the Amazon rainforest e.g. effects of deforestation.

I cannot express how urgent my recommendations are and insist you consider them.

I am aware that you may not be familiar with the subject of the Amazon rainforest so I have taken the liberty of providing detailed information under key-headings.

What is Deforestation.

Deforestation is the clearance of forestland. It is a key global environmental issue (see figure 1 and 1.5). One hectare of the rainforest in LEDC countries is cleared every two seconds. The cleared area has increased to the size of Great Britain. The fastest clearances in the world take place in the Amazon rainforest, South America, Brazil. (See figure 2)

Deforestation of forest for timber, fuel, charcoal burning and clearing of agriculture and extractive industries such as mining, without planting new trees to replace those lost (reforestation) or working on a cycle that allows the natural forest to regenerate. Deforestation causes fertile soil to be blown away or washed into rivers, leading to soil erosion, drought, flooding and loss of wildlife. It may also increase the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere and intensifies the greenhouse effect, because there are fewer trees absorbing carbon dioxide from the air for photosynthesis. The greenhouse effect is the gradual warming of the Earth’s atmosphere because carbon dioxide and other gases prevent heat from escaping to space, which makes the Earth’s surface warmer than it otherwise, would be. (See figure 9 for the greenhouse effect)

Deforestation leads to famine and is thought to be partially responsible for flooding in lowland areas because the trees help to slow down water movement. In the tropics deforestation in the tropics is especially serious because such forests do not regenerate easily and because they are such a rich source of bio-diversity.

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

What is the Amazon rainforest like.

The Amazon rainforest is about 5. North of the equator. The climate is very hot and wet throughout the year and temperatures are usually above 20.c and can often reach as high as 30.c (see figure 3) it rains almost every afternoon and the air becomes very humid, making it feel hotter. Yearly rainfalls are a high 1 500 – 3 000mm compared to London, which has a maximum of around 500mm.

The Amazon in Brazil, South America (see figure 4) is one of the wettest region on the Earth. Over 15 000 tributaries feed into the Amazon River. One fifth of the Earth’s river water flows through the mouth of the Amazon, which is as wide as the distance from London to Paris. There are more species of plants and animals in the Amazon than anywhere else in the Earth and over 50% of the plants and animals are found in the rainforest and provide about one quarter of the worlds prescription drugs. For example the rosy periwinkle provides drugs, which help cure leukemia. 10% of plants have been fully studied and new animals are being discovered every year. The biggest feature of the Amazon rainforest is that one third of the world’s trees grow here. The rainforest ecosystem had adapted to its environment, which consists of high temperatures, heavy rainfall and an all year round growing season. The rainforest has a clear structure (see figure 5).

In order for trees to live they must take nutrients from the soil. In the amazon rainforest dead leaves fallen from the trees decompose at a great speed because of the hot and wet climate. This process allows nutrients to be continuously returned to the soil. This process is called the nutrient or humus cycle. (See figure 6) After deforestation have occurred the cycle changes. The biomass store would be immediately reduced if people removed trees from the area for timber and the disruption caused animals to move away. The flow of nutrients to the litter and soil might increase initially as remaining dead vegetation rotted down. However, in the longer term, the stores of nutrients in the litter and soil would decrease as rapid leaching and soil erosion occurred on the exposed ground. As new secondary vegetation grew up the biomass store would rise again although not as much as before.

How is the Amazon rainforest seen as a resource.

The rainforest is in great danger from a rapidly growing population (see figure 4), and because of this the demand on the forests natural resources is enormous. The rainforest ecosystem has many uses including the following:

. Shifting cultivation by Amerindians: primitive tribes in the forested highlands of the Amazon Basin practice Shifting Cultivation. While cultivated using shifting cultivation, tropical/equatorial rainforest nutrient is mainly locked up in the biomass with little nutrient i

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