examine the impact of development on the amazon rainforest
Answers
Development leads to many bad things for Amazon Rainforest.
1. Deforestation
2. Illegal wildlife trade
3. Illegal poaching & Hunting
4. Air & Water pollution
5. land degradation and water pollution caused by mining activities
6. Wetland degradation and severe oil spills every year.
Every year Amazon Rain forest losing one size of New Jersey due to development activity .As we know that area is surrounded by 9 countries including by Brazil 60 %. 150 acres is getting destroying every minute of every day.
The Amazon rain forest , is a moist broad leaf forest that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 square kilometers (2,700,000 sq mi), of which 5,500,000 square kilometers are covered by the rain forest. It includes territory belonging to nine nations. The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rain forest. The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world, with an estimated 390 billion individual trees divided into 16,000 species. The development is posing following threats to the rain forest -
1. The main sources of deforestation in the Amazon are human settlement and development of the land. Prior to the early 1960s, access to the forest's interior was highly restricted, and the forest remained basically intact.
2. The farming practices led to deforestation and caused extensive environmental damage. Deforestation is considerable, and areas cleared of forest are visible to the naked eye from outer space.
3. In the 1970s construction began on the Trans-Amazonian highway. This highway represented a major threat to the Amazon rain forest. Fortunately for the rain forest, the highway has not been completed, hereby reducing the environmental damage.
4. Seventy percent of formerly forested land in the Amazon, and 91% of land deforested since 1970, is used for livestock pasture.
5. The needs of soy farmers have been used to justify many of the controversial transportation projects that are currently developing in the Amazon. These situations are leading increased settlement and deforestation.
As human beings we must remember that we are part and parcels of nature. We should not consider ourselves above nature. Strong measures are now in place so that no further damage is done to the life on Amazon rain forest.