Deforestation in Brazil

The world has become a changed place. Have you ever seen pictures of the forests of the 18th and the 19th century? They look so different. In those times forests were much more lush and green than the forests today. Why you ask? Because in those times consumption of fossil fuels was not that much. Global warming didn't even exist. Sure, technology has made life easy and fast, but it has also made earth a dangerous place to live in. The lack of forests and greenery has depleted the ozone layer and has also affected the entire ecological balance. This section of writing talks about another depleting forest reserve. Deforestation is happening now, and it should be stopped.

Few decades ago, Brazil had the highest rate of deforestation in the world. More than 600,000 square kilometers of forest has been destroyed since the 70's. As Brazil constitutes more than 60% of Amazon rain forests in it, you can obviously understand how delicate the situation is. When deforestation happens anywhere it always has global consequences. According to facts, between May 2000 and August 2006 deforestation reached up to a limit of 150,000 square kilometers, this number is more than the total area of Greece.

Consequences of Deforestation in Brazil

When you talk about the causes and effects of deforestation in Brazil, your mind directly goes to the deforestation in the Amazon. The rate at which deforestation is progressing it is causing a lot of damage to the earth.

• Brazil is one of the few nations with a high level of biodiversity. Biodiversity is defined as the wealth of the earth where millions of types of plants, animals and other species survive and grow. They also help in maintaining an ecological balance on earth, and deforestation disrupts all of this.
• Deforestation also causes global warming and the destruction of trees and other plants which are very necessary for the survival of various animals. Hence deforestation is also the main cause of endangered animal species. Environmental scientists have always related global warming to deforestation.
• Due to deforestation, lots of plants and trees just get wiped off which might have been used for making medicines. These medicines could have been used for curing cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
• Since the birth of man, he has exploited forests drastically. For home, for food, for space for families. Now trees are being cut down for other monetary gains, and if this doesn't stop, forests are going to vanish someday.
• One of the most enthralling facts about deforestation was that local cattle is responsible for wiping off 80% of the forest. Farmers leave their cattle in the open and they feed heavily on leaves causing heavy damage.
• Not only animals, but farmers, wildlife activists and hunters are causing way more damage than they can think. People come to the Amazon forest to collect natural materials that are available in abundance. Humans collect rubber in large quantities thereby destroying plants and trees which have flourished in the nearby region. Lots of people came to Brazil for gold and evacuated large areas of forest greens, a sad fact about deforestation.

Deforestation in Brazil: Solutions

If you go by deforestation statistics, Brazil, which is home to almost 60% of Amazon forest in the world will lose approximately 50% of its forest cover by 2022. Here are some tips which can help contribute to afforestation.

• One possible solution is recycling. It's always good for the home planet to recycle. If you recycle on a regular basis, there will be less usage of disposable products like paper plates and towels.
• If there is less demand of these products then there would be less cutting, and you could increase the number of trees.
• Another possible solution to deforestation is planting of more and more trees. The rainforests which have been destroyed can also be replaced by planting new trees. Brazil is implementing various programs to make sure, that afforestation is encouraged and spread everywhere.

Deforestation in Brazil can be reduced if people show some care and concern for the planet. The government is trying their level best to make sure cutting down of trees is stopped and reduced to a larger extent.