Amazon Rainforest of Brazil

Amazon Rainforest of Brazil

By: Niloufar Massachi

Map of Amazon Rainforest in South America

(enviro-map.com)

Map of Amazon Rainforest in Brazil

(http://www.rain-tree.com)

                                                                    

                                                           Historical State

Amazon Rainforest

(earthtimes.org)

      The Amazon Rainforest is called “the lungs of the earth” because it is the biggest rainforest on the planet and makes up about one fifth of the oxygen we breathe each day (“Amazon Rainforest”). This vast rainforest is located throughout nine countries in South America. More than half of the Amazon is in Brazil. The Amazon Rainforest in Brazil is a beautiful tropical paradise that thrives off of the Amazon River and is diversely filled with plants and animals. The trees in the Amazon Rainforest have always been tall. They grow up to 50 meters and have closed hems that create a canopy at the top, trapping light from entering and reaching the floor of the rainforest. The canopy of the Amazon is believed to hold about half the earth’s species (“Amazon Rainforest”). The roots of the plant life in the Amazon are shallow, causing the trees to easily fall over. There are also epiphytes growing on and lianas climbing up the trees in competition for light. Harpy eagles and sloths are well known animals that live in the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil.

Although the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil is filled with a wide range of plants and animals today, historically its biodiversity was much greater. Unfortunately, one fifth of the Amazon Rainforest has been destroyed by deforestation for logging and road construction. The human impact of deforestation that is destroying the Amazon Rainforest was milder before the 1970’s when most of the forest was unharmed. In 1972 the Trans-Amazonian Highway was constructed, allowing access to forest area that use to be restricted by natural barriers. Running through the seven Brazilian States of Piaui, Maranhao, Tocantins, Para, Amazonas, Saboeiro, and Labrea, the Trans-Amazonian Highway has accelerated the rates of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon (Schaffner).

 

Human Impacts

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Currently human impact is harming the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil in several ways. Deforestation is a negative human impact on the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil that is brought on by factors including raising livestock, logging, agriculture, colonization, and road building. Logging done in the Amazon Rainforest is mostly illegal however, little has been done to prevent it. Profit-seeking loggers are continuously cutting down rainforest trees because markets in Brazil and around the globe are demanding mahogany and teak wood from the Amazon. Findings demonstrate that when humans continue to demand wood from the Amazon, loggers are encouraged to keep cutting down trees, contributing to further deforestation (Schaffner). Logging has devastating outcomes of killing trees and animals, destroying habitats, and minimizing the biodiversity of the rainforest. Deforestation shrinks the canopies provided by tropical trees, causing the rainforest floor to dry up and be prone to hazardous fire. 

Slash and Burn Agriculture 

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Soybeans are the main commercial agriculture products that lead to the elimination of Brazilian Amazon trees. Brazil is becoming the main exporter of soybeans in the world (Butler). Since soil in the Amazon is poor and unproductive, cultivating soybeans requires a lot of land. Farmers are constantly cutting down trees in the Amazon to clear land for planting soybeans. The Brazilian government is encouraging soybean agriculture even though it is ruining the Amazon. The government permits loggers to cut trees and make roads for distributing soybeans globally. Farmers settling in the Amazon Rainforests in Brazil are contributing to negative human impacts because they perform slash and burn agriculture to grow crops like corn for their families to eat. This type of sustenance agriculture cuts down trees, dries the forest floor, and reduces the fertility of the rainforest soil. Raising livestock instigates a great deal of deforestation in the Amazon too. Studies by the Center for International Forestry Research show that in the last decade Brazil’s contribution of exported meat “rose from forty to seventy-four percent…eighty percent of which was in the Amazon” (Butler). Like soybean production, raising livestock requires large amounts of deforested land. Humans seeking food and profit continue to strip the rainforest of trees, destroying the Brazilian Amazon.
Global warming is also contributing to the destruction the Amazon Rainforest. Humans impact climate change in many ways. For example, the pollution brought about from our cars is warming the earth. As the earth warms up there is less rain, increasing drought and the probability of fire in the Amazon (Adam). Being an ecosystem not adapted to fire, the Amazon Rainforest can be destroyed be the consequences of drought. Due to these negative human impacts on the rainforest, the conservation status of the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil is bad.

(<http://www.mongabay.com/general_tables.htm>.)

Amazon Deforestation for Road Building

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Brazilian Amazon Deforestation

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Future Prospects

The likely future prospects for the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil are grim because of continuing deforestation and earth’s changing climate. Although deforestation has slightly decreased in recent years, if steps are not taken to protect this ecosystem, human impacts will destroy much of the Amazon Rainforest. It has been predicted that “31 percent of the Amazon rainforest will be deforested and 24 percent damaged by drought or logging by the year 2030” (Butler). Loggers will continue to cut down trees illegally until little to none of the Amazon Rainforest remains. As the earth continues to get warmer, the Amazon is drying. The rainforest is becoming more vulnerable to fire and at greater risk of being destroyed.

There is possibility that the Amazon will survive. Brazil is currently working with the United Nations and the United States on the Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plan to ultimately stop deforestation in the near future. Brazil is also involved with the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, an alliance of fifteen countries with tropical rainforests working to conserve forestland. In the last nine years, Brazil has established over 250 million acres of protected land in the Amazon Rainforest (Butler). There are many organizations that have been established to protect and save the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. Greenpeace is an organization determined to end deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by 2015. Further, in 2006 Brazil placed 57,915 square miles of the Amazon Rainforest under government protection with the help of Conservation International that invested one million dollars to support protection of the Amazon. (“Brazil Creates Protected Areas in Amazon”). The status of this protected area called the Guyana Shield is good. The Guyana Shield extends from Brazil to French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana.               

Improving Human Impacts

Protected Amazon Rainforest

(earthtimes.org)

There are numerous ways to improve and maintain positive human impacts on the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil. Focusing on the causes of deforestation and working to reduce and ultimately end them is a good first step towards saving the Amazon. Brazil can encourage farmers to preserve the Amazon Rainforest by offering agricultural subsidies and other incentives. The government of Brazil can create and enforce strict laws that protect the Amazon, prohibit illegal logging, and prevent farming in protected lands. Taking steps to reduce global warming and climate change are also essential in improving human impacts on the Amazon Rainforest. Together society can work on ending global warming with environmentally friendly actions such as recycling, using fluorescent light bulbs, and buying fuel-efficient cars. 

Guyana Shield

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To maintain positive human impacts on the Amazon Rainforest, government organizations in Brazil and around the world can sponsor programs that educate the public on the benefits and importance of preserving the Amazon, teaching people what can be done to improve and restore the rainforest. Informing those who live in the Amazon, in Brazil, and the rest of the world may teach, motivate, and encourage more people to work harder in saving the rainforest. Establishing volunteer programs that work to restore and preserve the Amazon Rainforest by inviting students, teachers, and others to visit the Amazon, plant trees, and educate more people on the importance of this ecosystem, can improve human impacts too. There are multiple ways to protect the Amazon and if society works together we can keep the lungs of the earth healthy and alive.

Deforestation Figures for Brazil 1988-2010

 (<http://www.mongabay.com/general_tables.htm>.)

Deforestation Figures for Brazil
Year	Deforestation [sq mi]	Deforestation [sq km]	Change [%]
1988	8,127	21,050
1989	6,861	17,770	-16%
1990	5,301	13,730	-23%
1991	4,259	11,030	-20%
1992	5,323	13,786	25%
1993	5,751	14,896	8%
1994	5,751	14,896	0%
1995	11,220	29,059	95%
1996	7,012	18,161	-38%
1997	5,107	13,227	-27%
1998	6,712	17,383	31%
1999	6,664	17,259	-1%
2000	7,037	18,226	6%
2001	7,014	18,165	0%
2002	8,260	21,651	17%
2003	9,805	25,396	19%
2004	10,722	27,772	9%
2005	7,341	19,014	-31%
2006	5,515	14,285	-49%
2007	4,498	11,651	-18%
2008	4,984	12,911	11%
2009	2,882	7,464	-42%
2010	2,491	6,451	-14%

Works Cited

Adam, David. "Amazon Could Shrink by 85% Due to Climate Change, Scientists Say | Environment | Guardian.co.uk." The Guardian News. 11 Mar. 2009. Web. 24 Nov. 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/11/amazon-global-warming-trees>.

"Amazon Rainforest Deforestation." Effects of Deforestation. Web. 24 Nov. 2011. <http://www.effects-of-deforestation.com/amazon-rainforest-deforestation.php>.

"Amazon Rainforest History." Save the Amazon Rainforest. 2004. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. <http://www.amazon-rainforest.org/amazon-history.html>.
Berg, Linda R., and Mary Catherine. Hager. Visualizing Environmental Science. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009. 15-17, 155-158. Print.

"Brazil Creates Protected Areas in Amazon - World News - World Environment - Msnbc.com." Msnbc.com - Breaking News, Science and Tech News, World News, US News, Local News- Msnbc.com. Associated Press, 5 Dec. 2006. Web. 24 Nov. 2011. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16041988/ns/world_news-world_environment/t/brazil-creates-new-protected-areas-amazon/>.

Butler, Rhett A. "Deforestation Charts." Mongabay.com. Web. 25 Nov. 2011. <http://www.mongabay.com/general_tables.htm>.

Butler, Rhett. "The Amazon Rainforest." Rainforests. 2010. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. <http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/>.

Environmental Issues. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://earthtimes.org>.

Environmental Maps Enviro-Map.com. Web. 24 Nov. 2011. <http://enviro-map.com>.

Markey, Edward. "Amazon Rainforest: Rising CO2 Levels Disrupt Rain Forest Growth Patterns." Global Warming Impact Zones. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://globalwarming.house.gov/impactzones/amazon>.

"Rainforest Facts." Wealth of the Rainforest - Pharmacy to the World. Raintree Nutrition, Inc., 20 Mar. 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.rain-tree.com/>.

Schaffner, Brynn. "Amazon Rainforest." Blue Planet Biomes. 2003. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

<http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/amazon.htm>.

World Culture Pictorial: Window to the World. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

<http://worldculturepictorial.com>.