Deforestation in the Amazon

T he Amazon rainforest is in big trouble. Deforestation is in the way.

Workers are building roads for logging. The loggers are clearing land for farming and
cattle ranching. And Miners are mining a lot of gold and iron ore. Soon, the Amazon
rainforest will be gone. In this article you will learn about, how deforestation is affecting
the environment. Causes of deforestation, and how deforestation can be stopped. To
learn more read the next paragraph.

How deforestation is affecting the environment

Deforestation is a big issue. Workers are building roads which leads to logging.
The loggers are chopping down trees like crazy. The logging is mostly for farming, cattle
ranching, and sometimes mining. This causes animals to die out. This is bad because
there are over 30 million species of animals in the amazon, some species have not
even been discovered yet.

Deforestation started long before the arrival of the Europeans in the 1500s. The
Amazon rubber boom lasted from the invention of the pneumatic tire in the 1880s, to
the beginning of commercial rubber production from plantations in southeast Asia in
1914. In 1900, the pace of deforestation was dramatic-the state of Parana was mostly
cleared in 30 years, in the middle of the 20th century. A more recent occur was the
opening of the Belem-Brasilia Highway in the late 1950s. And the Transamazon
Highway in 1970. In the 1970s through the 1980s the government incentives the
programs. In 1995, 30,000 square km was deforested. Also In 2007, 296,000,000 metric
tons of iron ore was mined.

There are many effects of deforestation. And they affect the forest in a negative
way. After all the logs are cleared, the loggers burn the tree stumps. MInerals are lost in
the process of this burning. Also deforestation causes the place where the logs were
cleared to get drier and hotter because there is no shade from the trees. Another effect
is poor people, that live in the amazon, have to leave.
Causes of Deforestation
There are many causes of deforestation including logging, farming, cattle
ranching, and mining. Also there are many causes that start deforestation. Building
roads causes logging. When construction workers build roads, it causes logging trucks
to go to logging sites and start clearing land.

One of the biggest causes of deforestation is logging. Logging does the most
damage to the forest. Twelve to fifteen hectares of forest is lost each year to logging.
Also 5-8% of the Amazon forest has been used for logging. After loggers are done
clearing land they burn the stumps and smaller trees which hurts the minerals and the
regrowth of the forest.

Farming is another big cause of deforestation. Most of the deforested land is

used for farming. Fifteen to twenty percent of the Amazon is used for farming. Farming
lands go for miles and miles long. And animals are losing their homes from logging.

How deforestation will be stopped

The big question that is floating around is, Will deforestation ever be stopped.
The only way to stop this madness, is to bring awareness to the cause. If we bring
awareness to the cause, everybody will know how bad this, and that it needs to be
stopped. Even if we dont get enough awareness to the cause, we just need enough to
save some of it. Because in enough time, the Amazon will be GONE!

You can help by planting trees in the amazon. Recycling as much as possible.
And donating to NGO, Cool Earth, Greenpeace International, and many others, to
protect rainforests and wildlife.

Conclusion
The Amazon is a beautiful place, and is the biggest rainforest in the world. And
we need to save it from deforestation. Forests are the worlds air-conditioning system -
the lungs of the planet. - and we are on the verge of switching it off. said Prince
Charles. To donate, go to https://www.coolearth.org/.