http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/deforestation.php
The largest Rainforest in the
world, the Amazon, is being destroyed! The article, World of Change: Amazon Deforestation
describes it very well by saying it, “has profound, sometimes devastating, consequences, including social
conflict and human rights abuses, extinction of plants and animals, and climate
change.” The article does not have an author or a date on which it was published but
after reading I assume that it was published some time in 2010 because there is
not any information going past the year 2010. This means that the deforestation
in the Amazon is a lot worse than what the article says.
In 2003, 67,764 square kilometers of
rainforest was cleared. This is an area larger than the state of West Virginia
we‘re talking about! The deforestation of the Amazon is rapidly destroying the
forest. Many plants are going extinct and many animals are losing their homes.
This is a satellite image of the state of Rondônia in western Brazil in the
year 2000.
Most
of the rainforest in 2000 was gone by 2010 because deforestation is progressing
this fast.
This
article really caught my interests though because it connects to what we
learned in class. We learned about deforestation in class and how it affects
the climate and plays a role in global warming. Trees and other plants convert
carbon dioxide into oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. Knowing that
the Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world, you can guess that it
produces a lot of oxygen. Know a day when Twinkies goes out of business people
are protesting trying to get them back. Yet you don’t see the same thing happen
when it comes to deforestation. I mean it’s not like trees and other plants
produce the air we breathe or anything. (I meant this sarcastically)
Deforesting
the rainforest may help our needs for paper, wood and other products produced
with these trees but it is hurting us in the long run. By deforesting the
Amazon we are killing off all these different plants and animals and adding to
global warming.
Great Job! I agree that this is a big issue that needs to be changed. The pictures were very effective in showing the rapid deforestation. It is crazy to think that that much deforestation could happen in only ten years. Also, adding the fact that the area deforested was bigger than West Virginia really puts how much that was deforested into perspective. You did a good job sounding like you were having a conversation and not just spitting out facts. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very great post, good job! I enjoyed reading this article because it is about a very important topic that more people need to be aware of. I completely agree that people should care more about preventing deforestation, since trees are essential in the environment. I liked how you talked about photosynthesis since it is something that we all have prior knowledge on. Over all, I thought you did a great job on your article and liked how you included pictures of the forests.
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