Amazon Rainforest is in Serious Trouble

Vegetation Map  of Tropical South America

“In our modern society of airplanes, microwave ovens, and plastic credit cards it surprised us to learn that parts of our lives depend on tropical rainforests. But, some of our basic foods, raw materials, and medicines come from these forests.” The future and well fare of our planet depends on the survival and development of these items, and the survival of the rainforests as a whole.

Being as we seem to hear news of devastating offenses committed toward rainforests, there’s clearly something illegal going on to allow these offenses to keep occurring and reoccurring. What I’m talking about is illegal cutting of these forests. There is a law outlawing a massive amount of cutting, and unfortunately, many countries are sneaking their workers into the country, and sneaking all the wood out. Not to mention illegal (and sloppy) mining in this area causes much of the water pollution.

Another one of the more disgusting reasons why this forest is in danger is illegal biological trading. Illegal biological trading is the illegal trading of live species of animals for either private collections or animal testing, which in itself is illegal. Unfortunately, one of the main reasons acts like these are made possible is the lack of self reliance many of these people have in Brazil. Farming technique’s haven’t been properly utilized in many areas, causing many miniature famines to occur, and this usually calls for a lack of money. Now, what many of these illegal workers are doing is paying the people for their supplies (or species) in order to keep them quiet and ‘happy’. The utilization of better farming and herding techniques, coupled with the widespread knowledge of why these forests need to be saved would clearly refine Brazil and these forests, and if this task could be accomplished, it could even save the forest. 

The importance of the Amazon Rainforest (and all other rainforests, for that matter) is the intake of carbon dioxide it consumes. The Amazon rainforest reduces the planets temperature by one or two degrees celsius, but it also accounts for the humidity and rain of certain regions. Without the rainforest to take in all the carbon, it would be released into the air, causing global warming to speed up to a speed faster than it had ever been. Not to mention the Amazon is home to “thousands of species only found there. These species are from all kinds of life, from bacteria, to plants, to great mammals and many are already endangered.”(amazon-rainforest.org) Also, taking away the forest would be taking away the home to not only these animals, but also to the indigenous people that inhabit the many regions of the forest. It would erase their culture, and take away their influence of art and life from mankind as a whole.