Emitted from these devastating fires every year are billions of carcinogens and poisonous gases that end up in the atmosphere. The gases and pollution have been building for many years, and scientists believe that the atmosphere is due to reach its saturation point very soon.
The causes of the devastation of the rainforests consist of many reasons. The greed for money and lust for land are just two flames at the heart of the fire. At the expense of innocent lives of rainforest dwelling animals and local environmentalists, large corporations can somehow justify their murderous means. Along with the thousands of animals in these century old forests, there are many tribes of Indians who are subjected to torment and usually death from the large companies. Heartless corporations such as Endesa, Arboriente and PICOP ignore the blockades of the FPA, "Forest Peoples" Alliance", and the perpetual pleas of the scientists who predict, "tropical species are disappearing at a rate that could conceivably reach as high as 150 species day by the year 2020" (Landry, 5).
Those responsible for the devastation of the rainforests is the ruthless logging companies along with the complete ignorance of the local peasants and governments that aid in the yearly loss of the hundreds of thousands of acres of essential rainforests. In Latin America cattle ranching for export trade is the chief culprit in rain forest destruction. The bullheaded ranchers fail to see the effects of their burning the land. After land is burned and raped of the minerals the land becomes dead. These are some of the problems but, "Land degradation caused by grazing is by far the greatest challenge in Latin America" (Caufield, 113). There is a false illusion of an endless rainforest, so every couple of years, the ranchers move on an either try and sell the land or burn more of the rain forest and convert it to pastures. The U.