Rainforests are an extremely valuable home for thousands of different species. They also produce many drugs used in advanced medicine. However, they are disappearing and it is the fault of humans. Most of the deforestation is done by farmers. They cut down a portion of rainforest to raise their cattle on. The rainforest though is self-sustaining, and when the trees are cut down it turns into a dry wasteland. Farmers then have to cut down more rainforest for their cattle. The rest of the deforestation comes from loggers who cut down trees to sell or trade. To make that even worse, they have to destroy more of the rainforest to build roads to take ttansport the logs out of the rainforest. Mining, agriculture, global warming, dams, and oil exploration also contribute to the destruction of the rainforests. The World Wildlife Federation says that in twenty years, two thirds of the world's rainforests could be destroyed.
I think that this is a huge problem. I think that Americans should ban or stop buying cattle grown on these farms. This is a shocking article. I knew that this was a problem, but I had no idea that it was this serious. If in twenty years, two thirds of the rainforests are really wiped out, that would have massive consequences for the whole world.
Questions
1. What is your reaction to this?
2. What do you think normal people should do about this?
3. What do you think nations should do about this?
4. Do you think that this problem can be related to any other environmental problems?
5. How do you think this can be stopped?
Reaction
ReplyDeleteI've heard of deforestation before in other science courses and each time I am more and more shocked at how horrible this issue has grown over the years. Something needs to be changed drastically before we don't have a rain forest anymore.
Questions
1. I think rain forest deforestation is a huge issue today. I remember as a kid always talking about the them in school and in stories. I can't imagine the rain forest vanishing
2. I think that normal people should promote saving the rain forest more to raise awareness because not enough people know what is actually happening to it.
3. I believe that other nations should cut down deforestation because without the rainforest, the oxygen levels go down and an unimaginable amount of species will be wiped out, as it already has.
4. Yes because trees play a big role in today's environment, and without them, the earth cannot survive.
5. I think the government needs to cut down on the amount of trees chopped. Even if it starts off as just a few less, it will make a big difference in the future.
I knew that we were drastically cutting the rain forests down, but I had no idea it was for something as silly as room for cattle. I realize as Americans we consume a lot of meat, but if chopping down the rain forests is what it costs then i don't know if it is worth it. We need to either cut back on meat or find pr existing land that can be used. We can't chop down the forests.
ReplyDelete5) This can be stopped by either finding another country who's standards for meat, health wise, meets ours so that we can import it or we could try to consume less meat. This idea is far fetch though. We could also try to advertise veggie meat more. Hopefully, we could turn more americans on to this saving the forests and it is a healthier alternative.