The Amazon Rainforest and Deforestation

             The Amazon rainforest is the world's largest tropical rainforest. It covers approximately 2 million square miles in the Amazon River Basin of South America (Lyman 1998, 61) About two-thirds of the rainforest lies in Brazil. The forest also covers parts of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, and Venezuela (Lyman 1998, 32) In the Amazon rainforest it contains a wider variety of plants and animal life than any other place in the world. It supports millions of plant, animal and insect species it is a virtual library of chemical inventions.
             Deforestation is a vital issue that is playing a great role all around the world today. Deforestation robs the world of countless species, destroying crucial biodiversity and losing species with potential uses in medicine, agriculture, and industry. Over half of the world's tropical rainforest is being destroyed, most of which are in Brazil, and they are continuing to be destroyed today (Silver 1998,11). The topic of rainforest destruction raises the thought of biodiversity and cures for cancer, both of these thoughts are very important reasons to end deforestation but it has not yet come to and end. Global climate and the greenhouse effect both have an impact on the atmosphere and as well as the biosphere. Due the rainforest it has found drugs for quinine, muscle relaxants, steroids and cancer drugs (Hadden 1995, 27).
             Tropical forests are destroyed for several reasons, there is an increasing demand for both farm and grazing land which results in burning and clearing of the rainforest for agriculture production. Unbelievably over 200,000 acres of rainforest is burned every day in the world ( Silver 1998, 29). Another reason of deforestation is the continued urbanization of the world and the need for construction of roads and industrialization. The need for fuel and timber for construction is another major factor leading to the destruction of the rainforest (Hadden 1995,45). Deforestation has serious...

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The Amazon Rainforest and Deforestation. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 02:54, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/49147.html