Environmental Issue Report

            
             THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RAINFOREST DEFORESTATION IN THE AMAZON.
            
            
            
            
            
             The reason for this report is to address the ever-increasing problem of rainforest deforestation in the Amazon. "If the Amazonia were a country, I would be the ninth largest in the world-. (Raintree Nutrition. Inc.). This quote shows the extent to which deforestation in the Amazon affects our planet. The Amazon is so vast in it's contribution to the earth as it supplies "20% of the world's oxygen-, "one fifth of the world's fresh water- (Raintree Nutrition. Inc), whilst rainforests worldwide provide "121 prescription drugs-, "More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in tropical rainforests- and " 80% of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical rainforests- (Raintree Nutrition. Inc.). The most common and obvious reasons for rainforest deforestation are for commercial logging for raw materials, land clearance for grazing and colonization. However, the causes run much deeper than this as will be shown throughout this report. Although we may not directly see the impact of such deforestation, we will all be affected during our lifetime. "We are losing our rainforest at the average rate of; 75 acres every minute; 108,000 acres each day; and over 39 million acres per year- (Rainforest Preservation Foundation). This rapid depletion will lead to such environmental issues as the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, flora and fauna extinction, soil erosion and degradation, and temperature changes, all of which need immediate attention if we wish for our children to have any natural resources to inherit.
             Contents.
             1. Title Page.
             2. Abstract.
             3. Contents.
             4. Definition and Types of Rainforest.
             5. History of Rainforest.
             6. Reasons for Deforestation, scale, participants, and consequences .
             9. Solutions.
             10. Resources Available.
             11. List of References.
             Definition and Types of Rainforests.
             The purpose of this report is to identify the major types and sizes of rainforests, their depletion throughout history, reasons and consequences of this and finally what can be done to preserve what is left.