| final_draft.doc |
Hannah Kyer
5/7/09
Thesis Paper
World U per. F
The Dangers of and Solutions to Deforestation
Destruction of the world’s forest resources is creating a global crisis. The unchecked growth of industry around the world has been a major contributor to deforestation, specifically in the rainforests of the Amazon basin. The removal of trees from the Amazon basin through logging and burning harms native Amazonian tribes and causes a decrease in biodiversity of our world’s species, the extinction of some tree species, and an increase in CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. The main cause of rainforest destruction is industrialization. Deforestation began to dramatically increase in the early 1800’s during the Industrial Revolution. At this time, there was a surge in the number of factories and large manufacturing centers being built. This led to a high demand for rainforest resources and fuel, specifically wood and coal. Today, industries around the world use materials that are produced or grown in the Amazon rainforest. These resources will only continue to be abundantly available if sustainable harvesting practices are implemented. Continued growth of industry with little consideration for the effects that deforestation has on the environment will, in all probability, have an extremely negative impact on our planet.
Although some of the Amazon rainforest is cleared through forest fires, making the wood unusable and often leaving the land vacant, trees are most often cleared from the Amazon basin to be used in industry. A large majority of rainforest timber is exported to other countries. In the one month of September of 2008, Brazil exported a total of approximately 260 thousand meters3 of tropical and pine plywood and tropical and pine sawnwood.[1] Additionally, wood is used for fuel to be used in mining and factories and is used to produce wood products such as furniture, which are then exported. Furthermore, forests are cleared to make room for farming and mining and oil exploration.
Logging is a prominent component of the overall deforestation in Brazil. There are two methods of logging that are used. The polycyclic system, a technique of logging commonly known as selective harvesting, is the method of logging where only certain trees in an area are cut. Usually the trees that are cut are those of a certain variety. [2] This method does not make as extreme of an impact on the environment as the second method because with the polycyclic system, many trees in an area remain standing, along with the other types of plants. In addition, most of the animals in the ecosystem can continue to thrive, as long as they are not dependent on the variety of tree that is logged.
The second method of logging is the monocyclic silvicultural system, commonly known as clear-cutting. This method involves clearing all the trees in one are, regardless of the tree varieties. This technique of logging has much more extreme environmental impacts than those of the polycyclic system because when all the trees are felled, it is much more difficult for them to grow back. In addition, clear-cutting results in soil erosion.[3]
Soil erosion is one of the many drawbacks of deforestation. Although there are some benefits of logging such as an increase in job opportunities and added lumber for fuel and construction, the drawbacks of deforestation are numerous and far outweigh the benefits.
Soil erosion is a direct negative aspect of deforestation and occurs when many or all of the trees in an area, including their roots, are logged or burned. The trees roots hold the soil in place so when the roots are removed; the soil is no longer anchored in the ground.[4] When it rains, runoff carries the soil away to the rivers. The soil that that runs into rivers is known as silt. This silt covers fish eggs, leading to lower populations of fish and pollutes the water, impacting the health of aquatic life. In addition, the buildup of silt leads to raised riverbeds and therefore more extreme flooding. The erosion negatively impacts the land in addition to the water. The decrease in soil on the land due to the erosion makes it more difficult for new trees and other plants to seed.[5] The lack of nutritious soil makes it impossible to grow abundant crops. Therefore, even more land is cleared and the cycle of deforestation and erosion recurs.
Harms ecosystems. In the Amazon basin alone, there are between 5 million and 50 million species of organisms. Additionally, these tropical rainforests hold approximately 50% of all life on Earth.[6]
One major drawback of deforestation is that through the clearing of forests, excess carbon dioxide (CO2) is emitted into the atmosphere. The plants in the Amazon rainforest take up enormous amounts of CO2 from the Earth’s atmosphere. These plants play a vital role in maintaining a balanced amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. If these plants are killed, all the CO2 that was trapped in the plants will be reemitted into the atmosphere, leading to an increase in the greenhouse effect and as a result, climate change.
The greenhouse effect is a system where energy from the sun travels through the Earth’s atmosphere and when it reaches the Earth’s surface, it bounces back into the atmosphere. Some of the solar energy exits the Earth’s atmosphere and goes back into the solar system. Carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor gases in the atmosphere absorb some of the solar energy and emit the energy back toward the earth in the form of heat.[7] When trees and other plants are killed in unnaturally large amounts, extra CO2 is released into the atmosphere and consequently, the greenhouse effect is amplified and global warming occurs.
It is apparent that the clear-cutting occurring in the Amazon is undeniably affecting the atmosphere. Since 1990, when the amount of deforestation occurring in the Amazon increased, Brazil’s CO2 emissions have increased as much as 50%.[8]
An additional negative aspect of deforestation is that the clearing of forests in the Amazon basin leads to a decreases in biological diversity. Biological diversity, a term more commonly known as biodiversity, refers to the number of varieties of species and individual organisms in one region, ecosystem or environment[9]. When trees are cleared from a region, whether it is all the trees or just one specific tree species, most, if not all of the animals, plants and other organisms living in the ecosystem are negatively affected. Due to the complex network of organisms eating and being eaten known as the food web, when one species, whether it be an insect, a fungus, or a tree, declines in population size or is completely eradicated, all of the organisms that depend on that one species also declines. This, as a result, affects other species. Because trees are primary producers, meaning they obtain their energy from the sunlight, they are always at the bottom of a food web. Therefore, all the other species in the food web are affected.[10]
Since before humans were first introduced into the world’s ecosystem, species of organisms have been vanishing. However, since the arrival of humans, species are becoming extinct 100 times faster than before.[11] This enormous percentage demonstrates how extremely significant an impact humans have on the environment. As humans have gained new knowledge in the past few hundred years regarding technology and industry, we have used the environment and it’s resources more and more for our needs and desires and have failed to show concern or even awareness for the ecosystem of the tropical rainforest which is progressively deteriorating and becoming more and more unbalanced.
Yet another negative effect of deforestation, specifically through logging, is that it dramatically changes the way of life for people who live in tribes in the Amazon rainforest. These tribes have been in the rainforest for generations but now they are being forced to leave. In the Amazon Basin, which covers parts of Ecuador, Brazil and Peru, there are laws and regulations for logging. However, these policies do little to curb the logging of trees in the rainforest. Indigenous tribes of the Amazon region own vast amounts of land, often as much as one million acres. These tribes will often allow oil drilling, rubber tapping and logging companies to enter their territory and, for a fee, illegally clear the land.[12]
These people have been forced off of the land their families have lived on for generations. In addition, the people living in and around the rainforest depend on its resources for food and shelter.
Furthermore, the act of deforestation leads to the extinction of plant and animal species. The direct causes of deforestation include acid rain, fire, clearing land for agriculture, urbanization and industrialization, mining and oil drilling.
Agriculture, specifically cattle farming, is the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon Basin. 60% of deforestation occurs in order to clear land for cattle ranching.[14] When grazing, cattle tend to pull plants directly out of the ground
The underlying causes of deforestation include over consumption, subsistence farming, a lack of participatory democracy and exploitation of rural areas
The rate of deforestation is directly related to the country’s and the world’s economic positions. Dr. William Laurance, a tropical ecologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama City conducted a study investigating the relationship between a global price of Amazonian soy and the amount of deforestation occurring in the Amazon Basin rainforest. The results of the study established that there is a direct link between the price of soy and the amount of deforestation taking place in the Amazon.[15] In 1995, the price of soy dropped considerably. Less than a year later, the rate of deforestation in the Amazon increased significantly due to a raised demand for soy both in Brazil and internationally. In contrast, when the price of soy dropped between 1996 and 1997, the amount of deforestation occurring in the Amazon dramatically decreased. After the price of soy drastically increased again in 2004, the amount of deforestation occurring in the Amazon declined. The connection between the price of soy, and therefore the demand for soy, and the rate of deforestation taking place in the Amazon has consistently been a direct correlation.[16]
In the Amazon Basin, which covers parts of Ecuador, Brazil and Peru, there are laws and regulations for logging. However, these policies do little to curb the logging of trees in the rainforest. Indigenous tribes of the Amazon region own vast amounts of land, often as much as one million acres. These tribes will often allow oil drilling, rubber tapping and logging companies to enter their territory and, for a fee, illegally clear the land.[17]
Other native Amazonian tribes do not own the land they live on. The landowners allow deforestation to occur. Tuxpi, a member of the Irantxe tribe on the Southern edge of the Amazon says,
“If we were an aggressive tribe, we would have killed the land owners already. But we’re peaceful, and we don’t want to fight. So all of this has been lost.”[18]
These people have been forced off of the land their families have lived on for generations. In addition, the people living in and around the rainforest depend on its resources for food and shelter.
Although industry is the main and overall cause of deforestation, the harvesting of rainforest resources need not be discontinued. The resources just need to be harvested in a different manner than they are being harvested currently. Rainforest resources, specifically trees, are usually cleared from the rainforest either through selective harvesting, where only certain trees are logged, or through clear cutting, where the land is completely stripped of all plants. Both these methods of logging hurt the ecosystem and can lead to the endangerment or even extinction of certain tree species.
To refrain from hurting the environment and ecosystem, instead of logging through selective harvesting or clear cutting, small-scale farmers and large logging companies alike must begin to use the method of sustainable harvesting. Sustainable harvesting is a method of producing resources in a way that is ecologically friendly and does not negatively impact the environment, allowing the indigenous plants and animals to continue to live in their environment. This can be done through various techniques but all are successful in allowing the forest ecosystem to remain stable and unharmed.
[1] http://www.itto.int/en/mis_detail/id=43370000
[2] http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2006/final/threats/threat_logging.html
[3] http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2006/final/threats/threat_logging.html
[4] http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2006/final/threats/threat_logging.html
[5] http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0903.htm
[6] Mongabay
[7] http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/greenhouse/
[8] Rohter, Larry. “Amazon Forest Still Burning Despite the Good Intentions.” New York Times, August 23, 2002,
Late Edition (east Coast) http://www.proquest.com/ accessed April 30, 2009.
[9] Mongabay.com. Tropical Rainforests: rainforest diversity. 2009. www.mongabay.com
[10] food web
[11] The Biodiversity Crisis: losing what counts. Edward O. Wilson. 2001.
[12] The San Francisco Chronicle. Jim Wyss. Friday, September 3rd, 2004. Ecuador free-for-all threatens tribes, trees, weak government lets loggers prevail. http://www.mongabay.com/external/Ecuador-Huaorani_2004.htm
[13] Reel, Monte. “As Amazon Crops Grow, a Forest Shrinks: [Final Edition].” The Washington Post, June 12, 2005, http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed April 24, 2009).
[14] http://www.mongabay.com/brazil.html
[15] http://forestpolicyresearch.org/2009/02/07/brazil-global-commodity-markets-define-increase-or-decreases-
ideforestation-rates/
[16] http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1213-amazon_corn_sub.html
[17] The San Francisco Chronicle. Jim Wyss. Friday, September 3rd, 2004. Ecuador free-for-all threatens tribes, trees, weak government lets loggers prevail. http://www.mongabay.com/external/Ecuador-Huaorani_2004.htm
[18] Reel, Monte. “As Amazon Crops Grow, a Forest Shrinks: [Final Edition].” The Washington Post, June 12, 2005, http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed April 24, 2009).
5/7/09
Thesis Paper
World U per. F
The Dangers of and Solutions to Deforestation
Destruction of the world’s forest resources is creating a global crisis. The unchecked growth of industry around the world has been a major contributor to deforestation, specifically in the rainforests of the Amazon basin. The removal of trees from the Amazon basin through logging and burning harms native Amazonian tribes and causes a decrease in biodiversity of our world’s species, the extinction of some tree species, and an increase in CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. The main cause of rainforest destruction is industrialization. Deforestation began to dramatically increase in the early 1800’s during the Industrial Revolution. At this time, there was a surge in the number of factories and large manufacturing centers being built. This led to a high demand for rainforest resources and fuel, specifically wood and coal. Today, industries around the world use materials that are produced or grown in the Amazon rainforest. These resources will only continue to be abundantly available if sustainable harvesting practices are implemented. Continued growth of industry with little consideration for the effects that deforestation has on the environment will, in all probability, have an extremely negative impact on our planet.
Although some of the Amazon rainforest is cleared through forest fires, making the wood unusable and often leaving the land vacant, trees are most often cleared from the Amazon basin to be used in industry. A large majority of rainforest timber is exported to other countries. In the one month of September of 2008, Brazil exported a total of approximately 260 thousand meters3 of tropical and pine plywood and tropical and pine sawnwood.[1] Additionally, wood is used for fuel to be used in mining and factories and is used to produce wood products such as furniture, which are then exported. Furthermore, forests are cleared to make room for farming and mining and oil exploration.
Logging is a prominent component of the overall deforestation in Brazil. There are two methods of logging that are used. The polycyclic system, a technique of logging commonly known as selective harvesting, is the method of logging where only certain trees in an area are cut. Usually the trees that are cut are those of a certain variety. [2] This method does not make as extreme of an impact on the environment as the second method because with the polycyclic system, many trees in an area remain standing, along with the other types of plants. In addition, most of the animals in the ecosystem can continue to thrive, as long as they are not dependent on the variety of tree that is logged.
The second method of logging is the monocyclic silvicultural system, commonly known as clear-cutting. This method involves clearing all the trees in one are, regardless of the tree varieties. This technique of logging has much more extreme environmental impacts than those of the polycyclic system because when all the trees are felled, it is much more difficult for them to grow back. In addition, clear-cutting results in soil erosion.[3]
Soil erosion is one of the many drawbacks of deforestation. Although there are some benefits of logging such as an increase in job opportunities and added lumber for fuel and construction, the drawbacks of deforestation are numerous and far outweigh the benefits.
Soil erosion is a direct negative aspect of deforestation and occurs when many or all of the trees in an area, including their roots, are logged or burned. The trees roots hold the soil in place so when the roots are removed; the soil is no longer anchored in the ground.[4] When it rains, runoff carries the soil away to the rivers. The soil that that runs into rivers is known as silt. This silt covers fish eggs, leading to lower populations of fish and pollutes the water, impacting the health of aquatic life. In addition, the buildup of silt leads to raised riverbeds and therefore more extreme flooding. The erosion negatively impacts the land in addition to the water. The decrease in soil on the land due to the erosion makes it more difficult for new trees and other plants to seed.[5] The lack of nutritious soil makes it impossible to grow abundant crops. Therefore, even more land is cleared and the cycle of deforestation and erosion recurs.
Harms ecosystems. In the Amazon basin alone, there are between 5 million and 50 million species of organisms. Additionally, these tropical rainforests hold approximately 50% of all life on Earth.[6]
One major drawback of deforestation is that through the clearing of forests, excess carbon dioxide (CO2) is emitted into the atmosphere. The plants in the Amazon rainforest take up enormous amounts of CO2 from the Earth’s atmosphere. These plants play a vital role in maintaining a balanced amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. If these plants are killed, all the CO2 that was trapped in the plants will be reemitted into the atmosphere, leading to an increase in the greenhouse effect and as a result, climate change.
The greenhouse effect is a system where energy from the sun travels through the Earth’s atmosphere and when it reaches the Earth’s surface, it bounces back into the atmosphere. Some of the solar energy exits the Earth’s atmosphere and goes back into the solar system. Carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor gases in the atmosphere absorb some of the solar energy and emit the energy back toward the earth in the form of heat.[7] When trees and other plants are killed in unnaturally large amounts, extra CO2 is released into the atmosphere and consequently, the greenhouse effect is amplified and global warming occurs.
It is apparent that the clear-cutting occurring in the Amazon is undeniably affecting the atmosphere. Since 1990, when the amount of deforestation occurring in the Amazon increased, Brazil’s CO2 emissions have increased as much as 50%.[8]
An additional negative aspect of deforestation is that the clearing of forests in the Amazon basin leads to a decreases in biological diversity. Biological diversity, a term more commonly known as biodiversity, refers to the number of varieties of species and individual organisms in one region, ecosystem or environment[9]. When trees are cleared from a region, whether it is all the trees or just one specific tree species, most, if not all of the animals, plants and other organisms living in the ecosystem are negatively affected. Due to the complex network of organisms eating and being eaten known as the food web, when one species, whether it be an insect, a fungus, or a tree, declines in population size or is completely eradicated, all of the organisms that depend on that one species also declines. This, as a result, affects other species. Because trees are primary producers, meaning they obtain their energy from the sunlight, they are always at the bottom of a food web. Therefore, all the other species in the food web are affected.[10]
Since before humans were first introduced into the world’s ecosystem, species of organisms have been vanishing. However, since the arrival of humans, species are becoming extinct 100 times faster than before.[11] This enormous percentage demonstrates how extremely significant an impact humans have on the environment. As humans have gained new knowledge in the past few hundred years regarding technology and industry, we have used the environment and it’s resources more and more for our needs and desires and have failed to show concern or even awareness for the ecosystem of the tropical rainforest which is progressively deteriorating and becoming more and more unbalanced.
Yet another negative effect of deforestation, specifically through logging, is that it dramatically changes the way of life for people who live in tribes in the Amazon rainforest. These tribes have been in the rainforest for generations but now they are being forced to leave. In the Amazon Basin, which covers parts of Ecuador, Brazil and Peru, there are laws and regulations for logging. However, these policies do little to curb the logging of trees in the rainforest. Indigenous tribes of the Amazon region own vast amounts of land, often as much as one million acres. These tribes will often allow oil drilling, rubber tapping and logging companies to enter their territory and, for a fee, illegally clear the land.[12]
These people have been forced off of the land their families have lived on for generations. In addition, the people living in and around the rainforest depend on its resources for food and shelter.
Furthermore, the act of deforestation leads to the extinction of plant and animal species. The direct causes of deforestation include acid rain, fire, clearing land for agriculture, urbanization and industrialization, mining and oil drilling.
Agriculture, specifically cattle farming, is the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon Basin. 60% of deforestation occurs in order to clear land for cattle ranching.[14] When grazing, cattle tend to pull plants directly out of the ground
The underlying causes of deforestation include over consumption, subsistence farming, a lack of participatory democracy and exploitation of rural areas
The rate of deforestation is directly related to the country’s and the world’s economic positions. Dr. William Laurance, a tropical ecologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama City conducted a study investigating the relationship between a global price of Amazonian soy and the amount of deforestation occurring in the Amazon Basin rainforest. The results of the study established that there is a direct link between the price of soy and the amount of deforestation taking place in the Amazon.[15] In 1995, the price of soy dropped considerably. Less than a year later, the rate of deforestation in the Amazon increased significantly due to a raised demand for soy both in Brazil and internationally. In contrast, when the price of soy dropped between 1996 and 1997, the amount of deforestation occurring in the Amazon dramatically decreased. After the price of soy drastically increased again in 2004, the amount of deforestation occurring in the Amazon declined. The connection between the price of soy, and therefore the demand for soy, and the rate of deforestation taking place in the Amazon has consistently been a direct correlation.[16]
In the Amazon Basin, which covers parts of Ecuador, Brazil and Peru, there are laws and regulations for logging. However, these policies do little to curb the logging of trees in the rainforest. Indigenous tribes of the Amazon region own vast amounts of land, often as much as one million acres. These tribes will often allow oil drilling, rubber tapping and logging companies to enter their territory and, for a fee, illegally clear the land.[17]
Other native Amazonian tribes do not own the land they live on. The landowners allow deforestation to occur. Tuxpi, a member of the Irantxe tribe on the Southern edge of the Amazon says,
“If we were an aggressive tribe, we would have killed the land owners already. But we’re peaceful, and we don’t want to fight. So all of this has been lost.”[18]
These people have been forced off of the land their families have lived on for generations. In addition, the people living in and around the rainforest depend on its resources for food and shelter.
Although industry is the main and overall cause of deforestation, the harvesting of rainforest resources need not be discontinued. The resources just need to be harvested in a different manner than they are being harvested currently. Rainforest resources, specifically trees, are usually cleared from the rainforest either through selective harvesting, where only certain trees are logged, or through clear cutting, where the land is completely stripped of all plants. Both these methods of logging hurt the ecosystem and can lead to the endangerment or even extinction of certain tree species.
To refrain from hurting the environment and ecosystem, instead of logging through selective harvesting or clear cutting, small-scale farmers and large logging companies alike must begin to use the method of sustainable harvesting. Sustainable harvesting is a method of producing resources in a way that is ecologically friendly and does not negatively impact the environment, allowing the indigenous plants and animals to continue to live in their environment. This can be done through various techniques but all are successful in allowing the forest ecosystem to remain stable and unharmed.
[1] http://www.itto.int/en/mis_detail/id=43370000
[2] http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2006/final/threats/threat_logging.html
[3] http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2006/final/threats/threat_logging.html
[4] http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2006/final/threats/threat_logging.html
[5] http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0903.htm
[6] Mongabay
[7] http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/greenhouse/
[8] Rohter, Larry. “Amazon Forest Still Burning Despite the Good Intentions.” New York Times, August 23, 2002,
Late Edition (east Coast) http://www.proquest.com/ accessed April 30, 2009.
[9] Mongabay.com. Tropical Rainforests: rainforest diversity. 2009. www.mongabay.com
[10] food web
[11] The Biodiversity Crisis: losing what counts. Edward O. Wilson. 2001.
[12] The San Francisco Chronicle. Jim Wyss. Friday, September 3rd, 2004. Ecuador free-for-all threatens tribes, trees, weak government lets loggers prevail. http://www.mongabay.com/external/Ecuador-Huaorani_2004.htm
[13] Reel, Monte. “As Amazon Crops Grow, a Forest Shrinks: [Final Edition].” The Washington Post, June 12, 2005, http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed April 24, 2009).
[14] http://www.mongabay.com/brazil.html
[15] http://forestpolicyresearch.org/2009/02/07/brazil-global-commodity-markets-define-increase-or-decreases-
ideforestation-rates/
[16] http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1213-amazon_corn_sub.html
[17] The San Francisco Chronicle. Jim Wyss. Friday, September 3rd, 2004. Ecuador free-for-all threatens tribes, trees, weak government lets loggers prevail. http://www.mongabay.com/external/Ecuador-Huaorani_2004.htm
[18] Reel, Monte. “As Amazon Crops Grow, a Forest Shrinks: [Final Edition].” The Washington Post, June 12, 2005, http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed April 24, 2009).
This thesis paper that I wrote on deforestation meets the requirement for information acquisition and evaluation because to write this paper, I had to do extensive research on the topic using both reference books and online resources. I then had to use the information that I had gathered to support my thesis and make a strong argument.
