Threats to Biodiversity and the Environment:
Tropical rainforests have an outstanding amount of biodiversity with hundreds of thousands of plants and organisms. Because of such a varied ecosystem, tropical rainforests are in the safe zone when it comes to the extinction of a couple species - or are they? Over 50,000 species of plants and animals are going extinct every year because of pollution, changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, changes in the nitrogen cycle and acid rain, climate alterations, introduction of exotic species and most obviously, logging.
Although, the majority of the problems mentioned above aren't very serious and realistic issues at the moment. Climate is being kept at a constant temperature, the nitrogen cycle doesn't really take much effect and introduced species usually find it difficult to survive in a place with so much biodiversity. So what is the big threat here? or should I say threats? because there are three of them.
- Human Population Growth and Habitat Destruction
- Pollution
- Agriculture
Human Population Growth and Habitat Destruction:
The human population on this planet is getting bigger and bigger and thus so does the demand for everyday necessitates like fuel, food and water, clothing, construction and energy. Such a rapid increase in demand is causing businesses to travel further and further, deeper and deeper to meet the point at which supply can keep up with demand. Rainforests stand as a shining beacon of opportunity and most importantly for businesses, money. Their trees can be cut down and sold for construction, they have adapted to holding lots of weight and growing vertical respectively which makes them perfect for building. The ground beneath can also be mined for valuable resources like coal, iron and copper.
Although, the majority of the problems mentioned above aren't very serious and realistic issues at the moment. Climate is being kept at a constant temperature, the nitrogen cycle doesn't really take much effect and introduced species usually find it difficult to survive in a place with so much biodiversity. So what is the big threat here? or should I say threats? because there are three of them.
- Human Population Growth and Habitat Destruction
- Pollution
- Agriculture
Human Population Growth and Habitat Destruction:
The human population on this planet is getting bigger and bigger and thus so does the demand for everyday necessitates like fuel, food and water, clothing, construction and energy. Such a rapid increase in demand is causing businesses to travel further and further, deeper and deeper to meet the point at which supply can keep up with demand. Rainforests stand as a shining beacon of opportunity and most importantly for businesses, money. Their trees can be cut down and sold for construction, they have adapted to holding lots of weight and growing vertical respectively which makes them perfect for building. The ground beneath can also be mined for valuable resources like coal, iron and copper.
Pollution:
We all know that global warming is a pretty serious issue and that carbon dioxide is the main contributor towards it. Rainforests used to be the 'sinks' of the world and would dispose and collect most of the carbon dioxide made by humans which would keep the climate of the Earth steady, this is not the case anymore. Due to recent deforestation, less and less carbon dioxide is being absorbed by the trees and so, the Earth's climate is becoming more and more unstable. About 2.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide is released into the air every second. That's 8,640 million pounds of carbon dioxide every hour and 75,686,400 million every year! And at the rate of deforestation at the moment, the human race is heading for disaster.
But that's not the only reasons why we need rainforests to keep the world's climate stable. 1) The 'slash and burn' technique used by locals to clear land easily, which involves cutting down trees and burning them to avoid having to pay people to get them removed. 2) Destroying living trees reduces the amount of photosynthesis, a process that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it in the plants as carbon. If the tree is cut down and burned like the 'slash and burn' technique all that collected carbon is releases back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. We're destroying our planet and unlike most other disasters in history, the world isn't going to fix itself. It's up to us and we've been putting it off for too long. Too long have we been saying 'we'll leave it for the next generation', there won't be a next generation if we don't act now, this threat is real and we're risking our existence as humans for business.
We all know that global warming is a pretty serious issue and that carbon dioxide is the main contributor towards it. Rainforests used to be the 'sinks' of the world and would dispose and collect most of the carbon dioxide made by humans which would keep the climate of the Earth steady, this is not the case anymore. Due to recent deforestation, less and less carbon dioxide is being absorbed by the trees and so, the Earth's climate is becoming more and more unstable. About 2.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide is released into the air every second. That's 8,640 million pounds of carbon dioxide every hour and 75,686,400 million every year! And at the rate of deforestation at the moment, the human race is heading for disaster.
But that's not the only reasons why we need rainforests to keep the world's climate stable. 1) The 'slash and burn' technique used by locals to clear land easily, which involves cutting down trees and burning them to avoid having to pay people to get them removed. 2) Destroying living trees reduces the amount of photosynthesis, a process that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it in the plants as carbon. If the tree is cut down and burned like the 'slash and burn' technique all that collected carbon is releases back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. We're destroying our planet and unlike most other disasters in history, the world isn't going to fix itself. It's up to us and we've been putting it off for too long. Too long have we been saying 'we'll leave it for the next generation', there won't be a next generation if we don't act now, this threat is real and we're risking our existence as humans for business.
Agriculture:
Despite the explosion of life in tropical rainforests, the soil is very nutrient-deficient and acidic due to the fact that the competition and abundance of plant life leaves no spare nutrients in the soil. Everything is absorbed by the plants and decomposers and nothing is left behind. Also, below the thin layer of rotted leaves on the forest floor, there is a layer of clay which is terrible at holding water and really just gets wet and wastes whatever water gets to it. Despite this knowledge, farmers still remove hundreds and thousands of acres of rainforest just to attempt at growing crops on the terrible soil. They're method of growing involves felling a large amount of forest, burning it and leaving it to dry; this method produces a layer of nutrient-rich soil which supports excellent growth for a couple of years. After the two years of glory, the soil needs large amounts of fertilizer to keep it viable for growing crops. The abundance of fertilizer can also be washed into local streams which effects aquatic life an pollutes the water. After the cost of fertilizer catches up with the farmers depleting profit from the crops, the vast land is abandoned and allowed to revert to scrub, never to be used again.
Despite the explosion of life in tropical rainforests, the soil is very nutrient-deficient and acidic due to the fact that the competition and abundance of plant life leaves no spare nutrients in the soil. Everything is absorbed by the plants and decomposers and nothing is left behind. Also, below the thin layer of rotted leaves on the forest floor, there is a layer of clay which is terrible at holding water and really just gets wet and wastes whatever water gets to it. Despite this knowledge, farmers still remove hundreds and thousands of acres of rainforest just to attempt at growing crops on the terrible soil. They're method of growing involves felling a large amount of forest, burning it and leaving it to dry; this method produces a layer of nutrient-rich soil which supports excellent growth for a couple of years. After the two years of glory, the soil needs large amounts of fertilizer to keep it viable for growing crops. The abundance of fertilizer can also be washed into local streams which effects aquatic life an pollutes the water. After the cost of fertilizer catches up with the farmers depleting profit from the crops, the vast land is abandoned and allowed to revert to scrub, never to be used again.