Posted on: 14 January, 2009
Author: Jamie Hanson
As Amazon lies in the Equatorial region, the entire region is covered by thick forests because the plants grow quickly here due to high temperature and ... As Amazon lies in the Equatorial region, the entire region is covered by thick forests because the plants grow quickly here due to high temperature and moisture. The forests are so thick that sunlight cannot enter in most of the areas. The soil is mainly red and yellow but constant rains make the soil very sticky and poor, and also the top layer of soil is washed out due to heavy rains. All these factors contribute to hindrance in growing crops. Thus, some parts of Equatorial Forests have been cleared by people to make farms and one farm can be used only for two or three years, because wild plants grow very fast and cover the land and thus it becomes extremely difficult for the farmers to grow crops here. The farmers then clear other parts of land by cutting trees and plants to grow crops, this is termed as Deforestation. Thus, the Tropical Amazon forests have been cleared quickly to carry out farming, obtain food and other necessities from a very long period right from the period before arrival of Europeans in the 1500s. No forest in this region has remained untouched by humans. The Equatorial Natural Vegetation consists of Evergreen Hardwood Trees like Mahogany and Ebony. You may find a variety of creepers, ferns and small palm trees that make forests so thick that it is difficult to pass through them. Te species of plants are so mixed that one small part of jungle may have 200 species of plant. Species such as Brazil Nuts are mostly found and cultivated there. Thus, due to a lot of useful products like wood, species of Brazil nuts found there can be one more reason leading to Deforestation of Amazon. The current scenario shows that deforestation is done by the rich for cattle ranching, due to which a majority of land is cleared in Brazil. The land that is cleared is either used for cattle ranching or can be used after cultivating crops for two or three years. The government incentive programs have no importance today, infact this encouraged clearing more land due to agriculture credit and government infrastructure investment. In Amazonia, the trees are cut down selectively for a few species and this disturbs the forest as the remains are prone to fire. The increasing value of land is also one of the reasons of deforestation. The landholder claims the land at lower prices and later resells it at a price that fetches him a good amount than what he can fetch from ranching and agriculture. In Amazon, a state of lawlessness is also the reason for which deforestation is into practice from a long time and is beyond limits. Soybeans and beef available in Amazon forests is the major export commodity, for which deforestation has increased. Soybeans indirectly cause deforestation as the country earns foreign currency by exporting this. These earnings help to construct highways that are a challenge, as it is difficult to construct within these dense forests and hard climatic conditions, constant rains, create obstruction in work. Highways do open ways for migration but incurs a lot of investment further speeding the deforestation of these jungles. Beef export is actually not the main cause of deforestation because of the diseases incorporated with stored and processed food. The future prospects for avoiding deforestation in Amazon are not so bright. Keeping the present scenario in mind, it is for sure that the Amazon forest will be destroyed completely on some day in future. Deforestation in Amazon has caused a lot of negative impact which outweigh the benefits gained from this act. A number of different species that are found abundantly in Amazon forests, are lost forever. The forest is cleared in fragments which degrade biodiversity and carbon stores which are found in plenty. Deforestation also affects the water cycle, as all the rain water flows down to rivers which are directly connected to the oceans, without being recycled through trees. Most of the rainfall in Amazonia, especially in dry season depends on water recycled through trees. If the rainfall is limited the trees may dry and may face droughts and forest fire, leading to degradation of forests. Deforestation also contributes to Global Warming, which is a major threat to balance in nature. Apart from burning of fossil fuel like petroleum and coal which plays a major role in global warming, deforestation further worsens the condition. The trees give out oxygen and take in carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, this oxygen makes the atmosphere clean and pure, thus more the number of trees cut, and the lesser is the oxygen content in air. Thus deforestation in Amazon has caused imbalance in nature to a great extent. The future prospects for avoiding deforestation in Amazon are not so bright. Keeping the present scenario in mind, it is for sure that the Amazon forest will be destroyed completely on some day in future. As the Amazon forests are tropical dense forest, which contribute a lot to nature, deforestation of these have caused severe effect and imbalance in nature, for which we will have to repay in near future. Article Tags: Amazon Forests Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com