Deforestation of the Amazon

The Amazon, located in northern South America is the largest rainforest and river basin on Earth. There are more species that are found here than anywhere else on the planet. Unfortunately the deforestation rates of the the Amazon have been mostly increasing since 2012 and will continue to rise if the people don’t change their actions. In 2017 Brazil lost 2,682 miles of Amazonian forests, that is about nine times the size the of New York City.

Ignoring It Will Only Make It Worse

Most people tend to ignore this issue, although this issue is global and does affect everyone. When the large amounts of forest in the Amazon are cut down there are also large amounts of CO2 that’s released into the air we breathe. The Amazon stores between 90-140 billion tons of carbon in its forests. The deforestation is an issue because the massive amounts of CO2 released from the trees being cut down is destroying our atmosphere and causing an increase in climate change. Deforestation is also taking away animals habitats, which leads to animal extinction. The deforestation of the Amazon is actually the leading cause of extinction in animal and plant species. The Amazon is a beautiful place, and without all the trees, plants, and animals, people won’t be able to enjoy their visit to this exotic rainforest. Eventually tourist will stop coming to see the Amazon because of the heavy loss of so much forest. This not only affects everyone today but will also affect all the future generations to come after us. If we don’t do something about this now, not only will we suffer the consequences, but our future children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren will also suffer from the consequences of our actions that we make today.

It's Never Too Late

It’s not too late to take action and help stop this issue! Changes in your everyday behaviors and actions could make a difference. For example, when buying paper products, look for and buy the products with the highest percent of recycled materials in it so you know that less or no trees were cut down to make the paper products you use. Reducing your consumption of beef will also help. You may ask why beef has anything to do with cutting down the Amazon but it actually plays a big part in it. The Amazon forest is actually the home to many cattle. They cut down the forest not only for the trees but also for the cattle that live there, too. This supply of beef thats coming from the Amazon, believe it or not, supplies most of your local fast food restaurants and grocery stores with the majority of its beef products. Let's work together to stop the destruction of this beautiful place that will soon be ugly if our actions don’t change.