Amazon deforestation: causes and consequences

The Amazon jungle is the larger jungle on the planetand extends around the Amazonas river basin in South Americacovering a region that arrives from the Andes to the coast of the Atlantic. It is, by far, the richest terrestrial ecosystem that we can find on the planet, with a total area of more than 7 million kilometers that extends beyond borders, reaching surfaces in nine different countries.

In this way, the Amazon jungle It is home to a large number of plant species, as well as animals ranging from reptiles and amphibians to mammals, birds and insects. In fact, it is an ecosystem where, still today, biologists discover new and unknown species from time to time, which is a good example of the great immensity of biodiversity that houses.

Likewise, the Amazon jungle has been called as “The lung of the earth”, A nickname that has earned precisely due to the huge amount of CO2 that absorbs per year due to lush flora that the form. Therefore, beyond being the home of thousands of different species, it also helps to counteract the CO2 emissions that human beings produce in excess.

However, all this has not served to protect it from the economic interests that are the cause of being deforested this geographical area of the planet. Although there are some protected areas, many others are not, and it is these areas that suffer more pressing the damage of human activities. The Main causes of the deforestation of the Amazon are the following:

Commercial Talado

Although it is a primary forest, the Amazon jungle is being talked in some areas in order to offer raw material to the timber industry of the entire planet. These carved areas are not recovered once the felling is completed, since they are reused for other industrial sectors that have nothing to do with the wood.

Cattle breeding

A large part of the areas that are carved are destined after the breeding of extensive cattle when the timber industry has ended with them. In these areas, cattle are raised in order to meet the demands of the food industry worldwide, especially in countries where the demand for meat products is higher.

Agricultural cultivation

However, despite the fact that a part of the lands that are carved are destined to raise cattle, most of them will be destined to agriculture. This is due to several factors. On the one hand, these are countries whose economy is focused on the primary sector and the production of raw materials. In this way, agriculture constitutes an easy way out for workers in the area. On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that, the raising cattle requires very high amounts of food, so the livestock industry also entails the creation of extensive agriculture fields in order to feed the cattle.

Finally, the high demand for cheap food products consumed worldwide makes it necessary to have more pastures to support the demand for these products. The two most important are soybeans and palm oil, which are the majority crops that are planted in the areas that are deforested.

Road construction

On the other hand, beyond the primary sector, although also motivated by the existence of this industry that requires transport roads, road construction implies that certain areas of the Amazon jungle are deforesting with the aim of creating communication routes between the places of production and those of consumption.

Urbanizable areas

Also with the aim of achieving new areas where building infrastructure for housing, usually for urbanizations and commercial areas, fires are talked and fires are produced in the Amazon jungle. This occurs both legally and illegally and, in fact, is something that happens throughout the world and not only in the Amazon area.

Forest fires in the Amazon region

As we have pointed out, deforestation in the Amazon and other places is carried out mainly with the felling of trees or with the fire of large areas of the jungle. Although forest fires can occur due to natural causes, such as the fall of lightning in a tree, in many parts of the world fires are practiced to eliminate vegetation areas and release space for commercial use (urbanization, roads, livestock, etc.). This sometimes and according to what areas is given legally, but in most situations it is done illegally, something that in some countries is more persecuted and penalized than in others.

We recommend reading these articles about what forest fires are and how they occur and the consequences of a forest fire.

Laxity and corruption in the application of laws

Likewise, another of the elements that cannot be ignored when you think about the causes that are taking the Amazon to their deforestation are found in the corruption of several political institutions and the lack of commitment when applying the laws that should protect these areas of great environmental wealth. While it is true that not all countries are the same, some of them are permissive when the jungle is carved and that the land is destined for economic activities of the primary sector. In this way, there is no practical authority that prevents deforestation from continuing to be carried out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qek9kd3-qhg

What happens if the Amazon disappears or if it continues to decrease so much? What are the consequences that are already suffered? The truth is that Consequences of Amazon’s deforestation They carry many negative aspects for the planet and those that inhabit it.

• The destruction of one of the most important natural heritage that we have all over the planet. It cannot be ignored that, despite the fact that the geographical area of the Amazon is limited to the surface of nine countries, the reality is that it is a heritage that should be preserved by all for the good of future generations, of all humanity and by the planet itself.
• On the other hand, in addition to leading to the destruction of one of the fundamental assets of the Earth, the Biodiversity destruction that forms this heritage. Due to the deforestation of the Amazon, more and more species (animals and vegetables) are focused on the danger of extinction, which entails a significant reduction in biodiversity of the biosphere as a whole. Here we talk more about the loss of biodiversity: causes and consequences.
• In addition, deforestation in the Amazon also implies the deterioration of “PLANET Lung”, Which is increasingly a lower capacity when absorbing CO2 of the atmosphere because the volume of plant matter is reduced year after year.
• Finally, the deforestation of the Amazon destruction of the natural habitat of human communities who have lived in harmony in the jungle for thousands of years. The indigenous tribes of the Amazon are increasingly seeing their area of influence and, in many cases, they are dedicated to having to live in controlled reserves and administered by local governments that, although they allow these indigenous tribes to survive, lead to the mobilization of human groups of their original lands to others that do not correspond to their culture and traditions. Here you can learn about how the Amazon tribes live.

If all the trees of the Amazon jungle were talled, a natural and important natural region would disappear that it would affect the entire planet, the climate would change much more, a lot of usable land would be lost as an ecosystem, many animal species would move and also many people who inhabited the area, indigenous peoples would disappear and large number of species of all the kingdoms of nature and, even, the world economy would even be affected.

Luckily, in August 2020, Colombia Environment, Ricardo Lozano, indicates in an interview with Efeverde that “South America seeks a new relationship with the Amazon in which the conservation and sustainable development of that region prevails.”⁽¹⁾

If you want to read more articles similar to Amazon deforestation: causes and consequenceswe recommend that you enter our category of other environment.