Deforestation and the Incessant Decline of the Forests

Global development and industrialization have significantly improved the way of life. Nevertheless, globalization also contributes to global warming and environmental destruction. Among the natural resources mostly affected by industrial activities are the forests. In Brazil, the Amazon rainforest has lost over 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) since 1970. Deforestation in Brazil is a result of numerous activities including the clearing for cattle pasture; colonization and subsequent subsistence agriculture; infrastructure improvements; commercial agriculture; and logging. The leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon is cattle ranching. As Brazil became a large producer of beef it has created the need to expand the pasture areas at the expense of the rainforest. Likewise, the different infrastructures made in the area have allowed access to previously inaccessible forest lands, hence decreasing the cost of shipping and packing beef.

Subsistence activities of poor farmers significantly contribute to deforestation. Moreover, since government land policies allowed settlement in the forest lands, squatters acquire a piece of land in the area resulting to a large portion of the Amazon being cleared every year. The clearing process involves cutting of trees and burning which also kills several species in the ocean. Construction of roads may also be correlated to deforestation for it provides access to logging and mining operators that exploit the natural resources. Similarly, commercial agriculture also plays a role in the continuous destruction of the forest. With Brazil’s expanding soybean cultivation, forests are being cleared to be used as soybean farms.

Other forests are also experiencing the same fate. In some countries, burning of forests is practiced to make charcoal used as a source of energy for industrial plants. In the last 50 years, more than half of the world’s rainforest has been destroyed by fire and logging. Every single minute over 150 acres of forest are being burned which is a total of over 200, 000 acres every day. With this, it is estimated that around 130 species of plants, animals, and insects die each day. Considering the alarming rate of destruction, it would take less than 40 years before the remaining rainforests can be completely destroyed.

Many environmentalists like Joseph Schnaier have been troubled by this distressing fact. He is especially concerned about the adverse effects of forest destruction on the different species in the area and he feared that if this phenomenon continues a lot of species may consequently face extinction. Hence, Joseph Schnaier encourages people to help in the preservation of the forest and the environment in general.