If we gazed at earth by satellite views we will be fascinated to see that even though it is a small planet, it is the only one which has allowed us to develop life in it. Did you know that water covers 71% of our planet? That leaves land 29 %.
Forests cover 40 million km2 estimated by a study made in 2005.One of the world most known forest is the Amazon but lately is has become a debate topic because tree destruction in this region is increasing. Deforestation is the modification of forested areas into non- forested ones to use the land for urban areas, arable areas, pasture or many other various reasons. It is caused from the removal of forests without planting new trees to restore the lost ones, and leads to decline in habitat and biodiversity and also quality of life.Nowdays this phenomena has become a problem but it has been ongoing for a considerable amount of time since 1980. Forests where cut down by farmers who cleared 25 thousand km2 of trees, and it has increased in rate during the past year.
The area I mentioned before is the largest rain forest of our planet, The Amazon. It covers 10 million km2 and extends in many countries (Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Columbia, Bolivia, and Guyana). It is located within the tropic area and has few variations in the temperature of the region.
These elements make the Amazon an excellent environment for a rich flora. The conditions it provides, such as humidity and warmth, make it ideal for exotic plants to grow, as it is known to have the richest ecosystem found on our planet. Some rare plants that can be found in this region are mahogany, rosewood as well as many medicinal plants .Also there can be found nuts and spices.
Woods grow in large numbers in this area due to the conditions it has to offer but farmers and big company owners have started to empty this region. A weather phenomena which scientists have named El Nino, happened in 1997 and decreased the humidity in the forest dramatically.Firstly, after doing a research according to me, the main factor causing the raise in deforestation was the recovery of Brazil from a reduction of business activity followed by the decrease of the economy in 1999.
Brazil is a country that has many resources but they cannot manage the forest in an effective way. With the changes happening in economy, with the improvement of it, the demand for land and wood was rising. Due to having many debts with foreign countries, the government ordered people to go and settle into the Amazon as they believed that we depend on deforestation in order to survive .The Government also paid them a small amount of money to build their farms into the forest to work on the land in order to provide wood causing its deforestation. Farmers were obeying the orders without knowing the damage that they had done to biodiversity and environment. They would put up fires in the forest to burn a kind of scrub that they needed for pasture (field for animals).
These fires were unpredicted and spread out quickly increasing the rate in deforestation.The Brazilian Government was not the only one to think that deforestation could save them from the crisis and that our species depends on it as many others do so. For as long as we have lived we have destroyed trees because we need spaces to live to develop as a society, we need farms, shelters and many other essential necessities to survive. Most of the area that is deforested is turned into farmland and in lack of these farms we would not be able to eat which for human being is a major need. If we didn’t have farms each country would keep their product to themselves as they would have little of it .
This would lead to decrease of trade and lack of food affecting most of us in a negative way.People do not only need farms they also need shelters to live, to grow and other necessities like paper. Can you consider life without it? It cannot be substituted. People need shelters such as timber houses, which are comfortable but not very durable to heat or cold. The most important feature is that they are economical and nowadays everything is made to lower the costs .But people can choose others types of shelters and they can make their homes in reinforced concrete or steel. This way we protect trees and biodiversity. We also profit from these types of shelters as they offer stability and more durability than wooden houses.
For just a small fee we can make a home for life. So try saving the environment and secure yourselves sheltering by making the right choice. The days when we needed to cut down trees for our own needs are gone as we should encourage ourselves to help recover nature from the damages we have caused it.The Amazon is very important because it produces 1/3 of the worlds O2 while absorbing CO2.
We ,as humans, are destroying this region, it is predicted that all the other rain forests including the Amazon will be nonexistent within 20 years. We are taking advantage of the natural resources that we have and we are destroying them. When we cut down trees we make a great damage to the environment because we prevent the soil of vitamins that causes the forest area to abate. This leads to extra danger for soil erosion. Erosion can wash off the parasites in crops and dangerous chemicals on lands that can harm the flora of the area, it can also break down different stones or rocks that prevent animals from their food sources.
When the soil slips it deposits forming new lands. But erosion is mainly negative as it damages large areas, it discharges gases causing a drier environment and higher temperatures which causes loss in the humidity of the region and furthermore it endangers the flora. Deforestation means limitless destruction to the biological and ecological varieties. I speak for myself when I state that there is not a short time solution for the Amazon region as we have caused a lot of destruction. Nonetheless the long period solutions can be as following: we should raise awareness of the damages that have been done to rain forests, company owners that are specified in forest enterprises should provide education for their employees such as ranchers for them to value the worth of wooden materials and to stop the waste/ over-use of these items.
Deforestation is a negative phenomena. We must take responsibility for our actions and solve the problem of the Amazon forest. If we follow some of the methods to decrease the destruction of trees and to protect them.To conclude the overall solution is that we should value all that forests supply us with and we should also think about the generations to come. If we keep destroying rainforests, keeping this pace will leave us with nothing except the beautiful memory of what we once possessed.
The Amazon is a region which has to be respected because it is rich in many plants that are vital to humans, and we should keep in mind that it produces most of the oxygen for Earth. Next time you decide to cut down trees, remember the consequences and the damages this decision will bring to the environment.
