Deforestation
Eight thousand years ago, when humans didn't have an astounding affect on the world ecosystem, trees covered two fifths of the land. Since that time, the human race has burnt and chopped down half of the original forestland. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, deforestation is defined as "the action or process of clearing of forests..." (www.m-w.com). The act of deforestation could, in a matter of just a few decades, completely strip the earth of trees. Deforestation not only has a phenomenal effect on the ecological balance of the world, but its economic stability as well. Tropical rainforests are disappearing faster than ever before. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that in 1980, the rainforests were disappearing at a rate of 114,000 square kilometers each year (Colchester and Lohmann, 1). More recent studies have shown a sharp increase in that number. According to a study completed by Friends for Earth, some "142,000 square kilometers of tropical rainforests were destroyed in 1989, and a further 200,000 square kilometers seriously degraded" (Colchester and Lohmann, 1,2).The Amazon Rain Forest is among the leading places ravaged by deforestation. The first estimates of the damage done in
"The Social Dynamics of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: An Overview. An estimated 50 percent of the entire world's population of plants and animals live within the confines of the tropical rainforest, although those forests only cover two percent of the globe (Gallant, 4). 24 million acres) were deforested between 1990 and 1995. It is now believed that atmospheric CO2 increases when a forest is burnt. Deforestation increases atmospheric carbon levels; is a factor in species extinction; and also increases the frequency of floods and soil relocation. " Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. The Tamarin is an example of an endangered rainforest animal. " United Nations Research Institute for Social Development . Throughout history, as the natives moved through the forest, they began to clear small plots of land for cultivation and living. Once the soil is too poor for farming or grazing, the ranchers move on. are currently removing some 70 tons of gold a year" from within Brazilian forests (5).
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